ACCESSIBILITY TO TRAVEL INFORMATION

This paper examines customers' requirements for travel information, the deficiencies in existing passenger information provision in the UK, and the actions being taken by Thames Trains to address this issue and provide a solution correcting key identified weaknesses. The problem is partly subjective, especially with respect to passenger requirements; the proposed solutions are still being developed and are not yet proven in actual operation. The types of rail passenger information in use are timetable information, information obtained by telephone inquiries, various types of information provided at stations, and information provided on trains during journeys. Previous market research by British railway companies has shown that passenger information has always been one of their worst areas of performance. These low satisfaction levels among passengers have been confirmed by recent surveys, using gap analysis, which have also found that passengers have low expectations about the quality of the information that they receive. The paper lists many different ways in which to improve all types of train information. The new Thames Train information system is described; its development should make real-time train running data and other information available in passenger-friendly forms and locations. (A) For the covering abstract see IRRD E104486.