Press release -
West Midlands Railway launches Bromsgrove personal travel planning pilot
West Midlands Railway has launched a personal travel planning pilot scheme in Bromsgrove, aimed at helping passengers make the most of the new services on offer.
For the next few weeks, trained advisers will be available at Bromsgrove station and on Cross City line trains to and from Birmingham New Street. They will be helping customers with their journey planning and encouraging more people to make use of the frequent services at the station.
The recent completion of a major electrification work at Bromsgrove means that the station now has more services than ever before. Trains that previously started and terminated at Longbridge are now operating to and from Bromsgrove.
There are up to five services to and from Birmingham New Street in the peak and between two and four trains per hour in the off-peak period. The number of trains serving Bromsgrove on weekdays has increased from 45 to 135.
At Bromsgrove, the team will be carrying out on-train passenger surveys, talking to residents of new housing developments and estate agents, and holding pop-up promotional events. Passengers will be encouraged to explore their rail options, as well as being encouraged to walk or cycle to the station.
Richard Brooks, customer experience director at West Midlands Railway, said: “We want to make it easier and simpler for everyone to use our train services. Personal travel-planning looks at an individual’s whole journey, not just station-to- station. Listening and understanding passengers’ whole journey needs means we can give bespoke advice and it helps us learn how to improve our services.
“The work that’s been undertaken at Bromsgrove is a real boon for the town and has vastly improved transport links to Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. We want to help passengers make the most of their new services and our new personal travel planners will hopefully do just that.”
The West Midlands Railway personal travel planners will be at Bromsgrove station and on the Cross City line for three weeks from Thursday 16 August onwards.
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About West Midlands Trains
West Midlands Trains Ltd. will be running the West Midlands rail franchise from 10 December 2017 until 2025/6. Abellio has a 70.1% share of the company, East Japan Railway Company (JRE) and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) own the remaining 29.9% in a 50:50 split.
About Abellio
Abellio is the international passenger transport subsidiary of the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Every day our people provide rail, bus and tram services to 1.7m customers across the UK, Germany and in the Netherlands. In the UK we operate buses through Abellio London, as well as ScotRail and Greater Anglia train services, and Merseyrail in a joint venture with Serco. In Germany we operate Abellio Deutschland, serving communities in North Rhine Westfalia, Saxony, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Hesse and Thuringia. Our role in transport extends beyond the journey from a-to-b. With our international heritage and our policy of sharing best practice, not just amongst ourselves, but across the wider transport industry, we provide thought leadership and truly innovative ideas which make a positive contribution to the communities we serve. For more information on Abellio visit www.abellio.com
About Mitsui
Mitsui is one of the most diversified and comprehensive trading, investment and service enterprises in the world with 139 offices in 66 countries as of March, 2017. Utilising our global operating locations, network and information resources, we are multilaterally pursuing business that ranges from product sales, worldwide logistics and financing, through to the development of major international infrastructure and other projects in the following fields: Iron & Steel Products, Mineral & Metal Resources, Infrastructure Projects, Integrated Transportation Systems, Chemicals, Energy, Food Resources, Food Products & Services, Consumer Services, IT & Communication, and Corporate Development Business. Mitsui is actively taking on challenges for global business innovation around the world. For more information, visit www.mitsui.com.
About JR East
East Japan Railway Company (JR East) was established in 1987, when Japanese National Railways was divided as part of a package of railway reforms. JR East’s railway business covers a 7,500 km (approx. 4,660 miles) network in the eastern part of the Japanese main island, including Tokyo Metropolitan area, and provides transportation services, comprising urban, suburban and high speed operations, for 17 million passengers on a daily basis. JR East also undertakes non‐transport commercial activities, which account for more than 30% of the total revenue of JR East Group. JR East contributes to passengers and communities it serves by delivering high degrees of punctuality, reliability and comfort and also continues to pursue higher levels of safety and service quality through technical innovation. For more information, visit www.jreast.co.jp/e.
