Complaints seminar for train operators
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23 March 1998
The Rail Regulator, John Swift QC, will welcome senior managers from the twenty-five train operating companies to a seminar on handling public complaints, to be held in London on Tuesday 24 March. Commenting on tomorrow's seminar, John Swift said: "This is a further initiative by the Rail Regulator's Office, acting as the independent promoter of the interests of passengers and monitoring the licence obligations of the passenger train operating companies. The clear aim is to improve the quality of complaints' handling and encourage the adoption of best practice throughout the industry. When more people than ever before are using the railways, passengers have high expectations in terms of complaint or redress that they will be treated with a view to gaining their goodwill. If the train operators are to meet these expectations it is essential that passengers' reactions to the service are correctly analysed, responded to with speed and courtesy, and the necessary lessons applied to the railway service." The complaints seminar will provide a forum for railway managers to share best-practice on the accessibility of complaints procedures, compensation schemes, computerisation and why complaints matter to railway operators. This seminar, the second of its kind organised by the Office of the Rail Regulator, comes as figures issued last week by the Central Rail Users' Consultative Committee show that records of complaints received by the Rail Users' Consultative Committees from railway passengers have reached their highest level since records began in 1949. The statistics show that passenger dissatisfaction is focussing particularly on cancellations, congestion and train discomfort. The Office of the Rail Regulator will publish the first nationally compiled statistics for the railway industry within the next few months. Copyright © 2002 Office of the Rail Regulator |
