Press release -
West Midlands Railway invites customers to help improve services
West Midlands Railway passengers are being offered the chance to have their say on their train service by joining a series of dedicated online Customer Panels.
The establishment of the panel comes shortly after the operator unveiled its improvement plan - Putting Things Right - to get its service back on track after a period of poor performance in the second half of 2019.
The company is asking for passengers to share their views to help build on recent performance improvements which have seen cancellations down by 80% since December and the number of trains arriving on time rise from 68.1% in November to 83.1% in January.
There will be 16 panels in total - one for each route on the West Midlands Trains network - with around 5,000 spaces for passengers wanting to have their say in the first year.
David Whitley, head of customer experience strategy at West Midlands Railway, said:
"Our performance in the second half of last year was not good enough but now we are fully focused on making the improvements to give our customers the service they deserve.
“We’ve got a new team at the top and plans for big improvements throughout 2020 and we want to hear what is most important to our passengers. These new customer panels will help us understand what we’re getting right and where we need to rethink our approach.
"We want a variety of people to join the panels so that we can make sure we are delivering a service that is right for everyone."
Passengers will be able to choose how much they want to share and how involved they want to be, with options including travel diaries, an online discussion forum, focus groups and face-to-face meetings with senior managers. The company is keen to hear from a wide range of the travelling public, from daily commuters to infrequent day-trippers.
Full details – including the online application form - are available at www.wmr.uk/customer-panel or for London Northwestern Railway routes visit www.lnr.uk/customer-panel
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About West Midlands Trains
For further information on this release, call our press office on 03300 955150 or email press.office@wmtrains.co.uk
West Midlands Trains operates both West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services.
- London Northwestern Railway services operate between Liverpool and Birmingham, and on the West Coast mainline to and from London Euston.
- West Midlands Railway services operate to destinations across the West Midlands via Birmingham New Street.
For more information on these services visit westmidlandsrailway.co.uk or londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk
The West Midlands Trains franchise started on 10 December 2017 and will run until 2025/26.
West Midlands Trains operates 1,300 services a day, manages 150 stations and provides over 80 million passenger journeys a year. Over the course of the franchise, West Midlands Trains will be investing £1 billion into the rail network to deliver new trains, improved routes and station upgrades. This will include 400 new train carriages across the network and space for an extra 85,000 passengers into Birmingham and London at peak times.
The franchise is a joint venture between Abellio (70.1% share) and East Japan Railway Company / Mitsui & Co., Ltd (29.9% share in a 50:50 split). Abellio is the international passenger transport subsidiary of the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen. In the UK, Abelllio operates ScotRail and Greater Anglia train services, Merseyrail services in a joint venture with Serco and buses through Abellio London. For more information visit www.abellio.com
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