I
That said, I disagree that the general public "don't care". I've been to a couple of NRE focus groups and it certainly seems that those people (commuters) certainly do want some level of detail, and jargon like "operating incident" is hugely unpopular, and makes them feel fobbed off.
I also agree that many passengers do care. But they tend to care more about how long they'll be delayed and how they'll reach their destination!
"Operating incident" is far from ideal, but it covers a wide range of scenarios that can often be technically complex and difficult to explain to passengers. It is a means to an end -staff dealing with passengers in these scenarios are likely to be under a lot of pressure and need to get folk moving as quickly and safely as possible.
In the case I refer to earlier in the thread a similar method of communicating to the passengers was used, and not one asked for an explanation. The vast majority were co-operative and appreciative of the onward travel arrangements often it's
how you deliver the message rather than what you say I find.
LNW-GW Joint said:
In some ways this forum, and RTT, are forms of voyeurism - a chance for armchair fat controllers to gaze into the operational railway's navel.
Indeed. As they say, a little knowledge can be dangerous.
The vast majority on here respect that those in the industry have the experience and understanding of such matters - but there will always be some who think there limited knowledge is enough to solve any problem!
Let them try
LNW-GW Joint said:
Passengers actually impacted by the delays are entitled to know what happened to a certain level - it will affect the TOC's PPM after all, and things like delay/repay.
If anything serious happened it will be the subject of an RSSB report in due course.
Indeed. Details that need to be shared will be. RAIB reports are very important for sharing lessons learnt (don't think there will be one in this case), but in the same was as internal bulletins and investigations do similar things, and customer relations deal with affected passengers. In my opinion it's all about appropriate material for the certain audience.
LNW-GW Joint said:
In any case, I'm sure we are more interested in how the railway recovered the service (pretty well, it seems) than the incident itself.
Service recovery did seem very good this morning, well done to all involved for getting folk on the move!