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He also recalls a lightning strike a few years ago, which brought down a signal box at Wimbledon, causing chaos to services in and out of London Waterloo. Simon was working a packed, 10-car train, which was stuck outside Clapham Junction—“the busiest station in the country and didn’t I know it that night,” he says, wryly. “I just made sure I kept in regular contact with our Control Centre at Waterloo, so I could give passengers frequent updates—although you have to be careful not to become repetitive and annoying.” Instead, Simon found a far better approach to customer service was through attending to individual needs, such as lending his phone to someone who needed to call an elderly parent to say he would be late, or handing out hot drinks. “You just have to think what you would want or need as a passenger in that situation and then give that little bit extra,” he explains.
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There's a strong loyalty among railway people, with employees helping out whenever and wherever |
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The communication of information during disruption is currently the focus of a major South West Trains’ initiative. A project team has been set up to look at ways in which information can be better relayed (see right), and guards play an important part in this.
“At present, we can sometimes give out conflicting information,” admits Simon, “so we’re trying to create one fixed channel that guards can access via their pagers during disruption. If everyone is getting their information from the same source, there shouldn’t be any discrepancies.”
All guards are currently undergoing training to learn how best to communicate with passengers. “It’s about being positive and honest,” says Simon. “There’s no harm in admitting you don’t yet know what’s going on—all you have to say is ‘As soon as I have any information, I’ll let you know.’”
Results are already starting to filter through to passengers. A time limit has been set to ensure they should now never have to wait more than two minutes for a response from the guard when on board a train that stops for no apparent reason. Guards are also making themselves more available. And the public-announcement scripts—a source of much debate—are getting a radical overhaul.
“Being a guard is not just about checking tickets,” says Simon. “It’s about passing on information as quickly as you can and helping people make alternative travel choices, where necessary, during disruption.” That’s not to say, however, that it’s all hard work. “I really enjoy interacting with the passengers, and that’s the key to doing the job well,” he observes. And with that, he checks the platform, signals to the driver and the train continues on its way.
by Laura Richardson
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