c2c Passenger Panel
Notes of Meeting held on Wednesday 19th November 2014
1.
Present:
Martin Smith (Chairman)
Ian Wilson
Rich Whittaker
Alan Newing
Carol Chaplin
Daniel Pepper
Paul McKew
Barking
Grays
Southend East
Pitsea
Thorpe Bay
Laindon
Benfleet
Julian Drury (Managing Director)
Kevin Frazer (Operations Director)
Hugh Jennings (Head of Retail)
Chris Johnson (Franchise Manager)
Tunde Olatunji (Head of Customer Experience)
c2c
c2c
c2c
c2c
c2c
Apologies:
Polly Mansfield
Samuel Williams
Stephen Duffy
Hayley Drew
Benfleet
SE College/Basildon
Leigh & Chalkwell
S E College
Welcome, apologies and introductions.
Apologies – were noted from Polly Mansfield and Stephen Duffy.
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2.
Panel Membership
As Hayley Drew and Samuel Williams had not attended to represent Southend
College, it was assumed that they were no longer able to continue as members.
Action – TO to seek a replacement member to represent the College and young
person’s travelling on c2c services.
Minutes of the last meeting on 24 September
The minutes were approved.
3.
Actions and Matters Arising from Sept 2014
ACTION – KF agreed to provide an
update to the Panel on progress with
the various operational and
infrastructure actions -
KF confirmed that c2c continued to work
in partnership with Network Rail on the
Over 60 point plan covering both
operational and infrastructure items.
ACTION – TO to share a copy of the
franchise and customer deliverables
with the Panel.
TO provided copies of c2c’ Annual
Report and Passenger Charter to Panel
members. The items requested for the
November meeting (Passenger Benefits;
December 2015 timetable, Fleet and
Smartcard) were all on the Agenda.
ACTION – c2c to review the fault with
the dot matrix customer information
screen once MS email with further
detail is received.
ACTION – MS and TO agreed to get in
contact to review the Panel
membership in the new franchise.
4.
This matter was included on today’s
meeting Agenda.
This matter was included on today’s
meeting Agenda.
Rolling Incident review of train service performance 18th September – 19th
November
KF gave a verbal report on the disruption incidents that occurred in the previous
two months since the last Panel meeting. Although there had been no major
incidents a significant number of complaints and customer disaffection continued as
a result of the 3 days of major disruption between the 8th and 10th of September.
This was inspite c2c’s cashback offer aimed at ensure season ticket holders could
apply for compensation under this goodwill scheme as the existing Passenger
Charter terms were very limiting.
KF informed the Panel of the organisational changes at the start of the new Essex
Thameside Franchise. A new Delivery Directorate replaced the previous
Operational Department. It merged the separate Operations and Retail functions.
Also a new Commercial Directorate merged the Marketing and Customer functions.
Fleet was now the Engineering Directorate. The changes were designed to provide
even greater focus on the delivery of the new customer commitments.
5.
c2c Customer Experience update
December 2015 Timetable –
KF gave a presentation outlining the current position with regards consulting on the
new timetable changes. Supporting material was produced to give a breakdown of
the impact of the new timetable at each station. The ‘simplifier’ showed both the
current and proposed future level of services so that customers could easily see for
themselves how the changes might affect their own journey habits.
KF reiterated that the timetable change was essential in order to provide a much
better service as at presently there was increased peak standing from stations such
as Benfleet and even Leigh on Sea. The all London station stopping pattern was also
the right solution to ensure that customers could use all of the interchange
opportunities at Barking West Ham and Limehouse. The proposals for weekend
Stratford services was to reflect the increase of customers wanting to go there in
preference to Fenchurch station.
Other proposals would see faster average journey times.
IW asked what the impact on seating would be when the Metro stock was introduced.
KF said that the purpose of a Metro style configuration was to improve capacity and
would be particularly beneficial at interchange stations.
IW asked why there wasn’t more publicity at Laindon to explain c2c’s position in
response to the Laindon Action Group’s leafleting campaign which had generated
some negative press and customer reaction. c2c advised that it was mindful of the
history of the Timetable change proposal in December 2006 and understood the
current reaction. The new changes were designed with a clearer approach to making
c2c services better across a range of essential improvements.
PM asked what the difference was of services into Fenchurch now compared to 2006.
KF explained that in 2006 the turnaround times proved challenging because the
sectional running times used were not accurate enough for the purposes of the new
timetable. This time around, the 2015 timetable has lengthened the turnaround times
from 6 to 8 minutes. DP who represents Laindon said he was not convinced. KF said
that the current timetable was the 9th iteration and had been modeled with the help of
consultant experts. It was now out for consultation with all customers including
Laindon passengers.
DP noted that the number of carriages was not specified and that leisure customers
would be less understanding of standing or overcrowding. KF confirmed that the
proposal was for 4 off peak trains per hour (tph) via Laindon and a new regular 2 tph
weekend service to Stratford/Liverpool.
Consultation Update – KF said that so far over a 1000 responses had been
received. The re-distribution was the right thing to do in order to ensure that c2c
services complied with the 20 minute PIXC rule which requires operators to minimise
crowding on journeys with more than a 20 minute stopping pattern. In conclusion, KF
said that based on the consultation feedback that the timetable was being re-modeled
and an update would be available in about 4 weeks.
Smartcard update c2c gave an update on its launch of Smartcards to customers. Phase 1 cards were
issued to customers travelling outside London Stations from West Horndon to
Southend stations. Phase 2 cards were for the majority of customers who travelled
into London and over 3000 cards had been issued and ready to go live.
DP asked if the Smartcard could be combined with PlusBus.
o
Action – c2c to confirm.
BPay update
c2c was introducing its own version of a contactless payment card method of travel
and early adopters including Panel members were welcome to apply to trial the BPay
wristbands. DP was concerned that the cards could not result in duplicate deductions.
Passenger Charter/Annual Customer Report
TO shared copies of c2c’s new Passenger Charter and Annual Customer Report to
seek feedback from Panel members.
o
o
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6.
DP – said there is likely to be concerns from some customers where calls to
customer relations are also being answered by NRE’s contact Centre in
Mumbai. TO explained that they provided a back-up service to help with call
volumes and deliver our target of answering calls within 45 seconds.
IW – said in his experience, call handlers in Mumbai were generally unwilling
to say no to customer requests.
IW – noted that on our c2c Live app, which hosts an assisted travel booking
service, a 24 hour notice period is given when c2c’s new commitment was to
take bookings with 4 hours. TO explained that this would be reviewed once
c2c Live became a more established part of our booking system. For the
moment, it served as a new channel for customers to book assisted travel.
Review of Panel emails September - November
Only a handful of emails were received. The main issues raised were as follows –
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7.
Panel members general feedback on journey experiences (general service observations)
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8.
Dec 2015 Timetable matters which all formed part of the formal consultation
process of which the Panels views were taken account of in the earlier
timetable discussion at this meeting.
Smartcard teething problems – The Panel noted that a customer had
encountered some problems when registering their smartcard. c2c confirmed
that customers were encountering technical issues but these were being
rectified.
TO confirmed that a training schedule for the new Customer Relations staff in
Smartcards was scheduled.
PM asked what had happened to the departure board app. KF confirmed that
this should still be available.
DP observed that the delay repay page felt cumbersome and not intuitive for
customer use.
DP once again raised his concern at where the wheelchair notice is located at
Laindon Station. HJ explained that the purpose was to inform wheelchair
users to position their wheelchairs on the platform parallel to the track and
with their brakes on. The notices were all lined up perfectly to where the train
stopped allowing easy access to the disabled carriage doors.
PM confirmed that he had downloaded the c2c Live app.
IW said he did not feel that c2c Live was as intuitive as it could be for
customers.
MS had previously raised issues regarding the faults in the dot matrix
Customer Information Systems. Since the matter was first raised by MS, c2c
has now checked 74 of their 74 units and resolved all issues found. A further
re-checking process has started and is into its second week with 46 out of 74
units looked at. A defective unit was discovered with faulty sound and
speakers. The 2nd phase of checks will continue and a new system which
forewarns of any faults will be introduced. MS, was able to confirm that he had
not noticed any fault for at least 10 days.
MS raised a general concern expressed over the impact the introduction of a
lower cap for off-peak fares would have on the cost of Oyster PAYG in 2015.
CJ advised that the plan by TfL was to merge the 2 daily caps for peak and off
peak into one in order to provide a better discount for commuters working
flexible hours.
Membership
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MS requested a schedule of issues and new franchise themes to be published
in advance for discussion by the Panel in 2015.
o ACTION – TO to provide a Passenger Panel Issues for discussion
Schedule.
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IW asked whether other Rail Groups should be merged with the Panel. KF
advised that other groups were unlikely to give up their long standing autonomy.
TO and MS said they would aim to get in touch to discuss membership and
Panel matters for the 2015 calendar year.
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9.
Any Other Business
10.
Date and Venue of Next Meeting - 21 January 2015 @ Cutlers Court.