Client Brief
We were contracted to provide ‘Passenger Intervention Teams’ at stations affected by large-scale railway engineering works up and down the East Coast Main Line. The East Coast Upgrade disrupted passengers and freight users journeys from Dec 2020 to June 2021 along the route from Edinburgh all the way to London Kings Cross. The route upgrade, worth £1.2 billion, would eventually improve reliability, punctuality, and train capacity for its users. However due to the major programme of works our client enhance and strengthen their passenger handling plans during this time.
Our Solution
Our ethos when providing customer service staff for our clients includes a clear understanding of the brief, and a ‘one team’ approach which ensures we are an extension of our clients teams, and in this instance, an extension of the station teams. We recognised that our teams would need extensive training to understand the East Coast Upgrade Programme, the customer benefits it would deliver, and the disruption it would cause. As a result our team on the ground were able to successfully intervene and advise alternative routes from each location whilst providing passengers with the most up to date information on the project.
In addition, we created a survey on iPads to record passenger feedback and collated data that would be used to improve future passenger experience.
We also provided a ‘Surprise & Delight’ campaign during the project offering passengers goodie bags at key stations. We sourced the items, packed and arranged all delivery logistics to each station which required an intense amount of detailed planning, whilst ensuring the whole process was covid secure. Branded goodie bag distribution hubs were installed at stations in prime locations and mascot Erik the Lion made a guest appearance throughout the campaign.
Outcome
The project was a huge success which included 1,230 staff hours, over 195 different shifts across 26 stations, 59 station deliveries of 32,000 goodie bags, and of course 1 Erik the Lion. Despite the requirements changing throughout the whole project due to Covid, we adapted our offering in response to government lockdowns and guidelines, and the whole project was a great triumph for our team and our client.
