Customer
Our vision is to transform the way people travel and how they feel about public transport. We seek to do this by delivering the highest levels of safety and service and by giving greater customer and employee satisfaction.
Customer-based initiatives are driven through the operating companies, all of which have mechanisms in place to monitor customer satisfaction levels. We consistently engage with customers to ensure we remain abreast of views and trends.
Investment
Achieving our vision depends on investing in the improved safety, quality and reliability of our services. In the last 12 months we have invested significantly in new vehicles. We also operate ongoing programmes of train refurbishment, station upgrades and new depot development.
We believe that the customer experience is fundamental to transforming the way people feel about public transport: we therefore continue to invest in enhancing it. We are introducing a range of new technology to simplify access to service information and ease the booking and purchasing of tickets.
This is supported by continuous staff development programmes in all our companies. Well-trained employees are central to the delivery of a customer-focused, quality service.
Performance Improvements
Through investment and partnerships with local authorities and Network Rail we are securing significant performance improvements in many operating companies. We will continue to work with these partners to consolidate and develop this progress. During the past year, three of our rail companies (First TransPennine Express, Hull Trains and First ScotRail) and our Glasgow bus operating company have received national awards in recognition of their operational achievements.
In North America we continue to demonstrate high levels of performance against the standards agreed in our customer contracts.
Stimulating Business Growth
Ongoing investment in our services is supporting continued business growth. All our train operating companies have experienced passenger growth during the last 12 months.
- First Capital Connect +5.7%
- First Great Western +3.6%
- First ScotRail +2.9%
- First TransPennine Express +19.6%*
- Hull Trains +30%**
* These figures include Manchester Airport to Blackpool routes which were taken over from Northern Rail in June 2006.
** Hull Trains growth is partly attributable to the introduction of more services with a seventh weekday return path introduced in December 2006.
Our UK Bus operations have achieved growth across the division but with much higher growth in operating companies where there are good partnerships with local authorities committed to bus priority. These include a 10% growth in our Manchester operations, 8% in Devon and Cornwall, and 4% growth in Leeds.
In North America we operate contracts on behalf of our customers and business growth is not dependent on passenger numbers. Our contract retention rates remain high and we continue to be successful in winning new business.
We will continue to strive towards service excellence, with each business developing strategies tailored to their individual needs.
Further information about our customer initiatives can be found by following the links below.