ORR seeks information improvements from South Western Railway
The Office of Rail and Road says it will continue to monitor South Western Railway (SWR) plans to improve provision of timetable information, after discussions held with the operator.
In a letter to SWR Managing Director Andy Mellors on January 23, ORR Director of Railway Markets & Economics John Larkinson wrote: “We continue to have serious concerns regarding the information that SWR provides to consumers about its rail services.”
Larkinson highlighted examples in January where customers had not received correct information on trains and were able to book tickets for trains that were not running on January 20, and that information for the weekend beginning January 27 was also incorrect.
“We are therefore concerned that SWR may not be taking all the necessary steps to provide appropriate, accurate and timely information to enable railway passengers to plan and make their journeys with a reasonable degree of assurance,” he continued.
He pointed out that the ability to plan or make a journey with a reasonable degree of assurance is a requirement of Condition 4 of SWR’s passenger licence, and called on the company to explain what it is doing to remedy the situation.
On January 26, Mellors replied to Larkinson, highlighting the measures SWR was taking. These include an improved process for checking the engineering work affecting its services, publication on its website of a weekly synopsis of routes affected by engineering work, and information on which services are available for booking and which are not.
The company says it is placing a banner on its website homepage to warn passengers of disruption, and that it is reinstating the direct National Rail Enquiries Service feed of disruption data to its website. It says its external website developer is working to resolve the issue.
SWR and Network Rail are also producing timetable requests 14 weeks in advance, rather than the industry standard 12 weeks. The first week affected by this will be May 12.
“I trust you will recognise the seriousness with which we are taking this issue and the proactive steps we have put in place in the circumstances until the underlying situation improves,” wrote Mellors.
Larkinson acknowledged the company’s efforts but said: “More is needed.” He pointed out that while the SWR website has been improved, there were no similar facilities on its mobile application or journey-check site.
“As you will be aware, the weekly report from National Rail Enquiries provides information to industry and ORR on the number of errors in journey planners up to 12 weeks ahead. The extent of SWR’s engagement with the relevant team is unclear; it appears that errors have been raised with SWR but not corrected.
“It is important that the further promised improvements are delivered in a timely manner so that passengers can fully realise the benefits. We therefore intend to continue to monitor progress,” Larkinson confirmed.