Abellio wins West Midlands franchise

[Idon'tKnow]

As a regular on the 07:20 LTV-RDC (as far as BHM) I was shocked to see this. However, looking at the inbound service which is the 06:12 LOB-LTV that shows it to be 6 cars. Just a typo in the TT perhaps?

The corresponding service from Redditch (08:55), is also showing 6 carriages, I do hope it's a typo as otherwise the amount of 6 carriage trains from stations between Lichfield and Butlers Lane has been halved (in the morning peak towards Birmingham). And to think WMR keep going on about service improvements.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Unsurprisingly, WMT have already breached their franchise commitment to introduce 24-hour social media by April. They're very woolly about it - a while back they said it would be coming in May, now they say they have no information as to when it will start. It's just the same as XC's WiFi still not being free despite it being a franchise commitment for it to be so by April. Are passengers being compensated? Of course not. Is the DfT going to do anything about it? Hardly. On goes the franchising gravy train, where breaches of contract don't really matter unless it's about the DfT's money or enough important people kick up a fuss.

If it were up to me, they wouldn't get a penny more of their allotted subsidy until they complied with their (achievable) franchise obligations in full. It's not difficult to do the two things I've talked about here, but there simply isn't enough of a penalty to discourage the TOCs from riding roughshod over their obligations, and they were the ones who willingly bid for the contract and put forward that they were willing to abide by the terms.

 

[STKKK46]

Unsurprisingly, WMT have already breached their franchise commitment to introduce 24-hour social media by April.

Genuine question, why does it matter if they’re 24 hours?

I can understand them extending their hours a bit but I can’t really see what exactly would the social media team would be doing at 2am in the morning?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Genuine question, why does it matter if they’re 24 hours?

I can understand them extending their hours a bit but I can’t really see what exactly would the social media team would be doing at 2am in the morning?

I don't think it's entirely necessary for it to be 24-hour, but at the very least I think there should be an instant public point of contact during the times where trains are running. But, in the end, they put 24-hour social media manning forward in their bid, and they agreed to it in the contract, so I don't see why they should be able to get out of it just because they don't now think it's necessary (which, really, is just cost cutting - it's perfectly possible to hire in contractors until they can hire and train the required staff).

 

[STKKK46]

I don't think it's entirely necessary for it to be 24-hour, but at the very least I think there should be an instant public point of contact during the times where trains are running. But, in the end, they put 24-hour social media manning forward in their bid, and they agreed to it in the contract, so I don't see why they should be able to get out of it just because they don't now think it's necessary (which, really, is just cost cutting - it's perfectly possible to hire in contractors until they can hire and train the required staff).

I totally agree re: instant points of contact.

I can’t help but be a little confused why they would even put that in a bid, or why dft would even require it. Ah well.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It doesn't strike me as a hard thing to achieve - it isn't exactly staff intensive nor does it require particularly expensive staff.

 

[TMD Tom]

I understand Twitter wasn’t a franchise commitment for LM and their customer service team did it as a bit on the side when they could. It certainly wasn’t 24 hour.

VT have an advert up for Social Media Assistant at the moment with a salary of £31,941. Assuming WMT would pay around the same, with five or six staff minimum for dedicated 24 hour operation that’s £150k - £180k per year. I wouldn’t say that’s not expensive. Particularly if the bid was put together on the basis there would be no additional cost as it was already covered...

 

[Bletchleyite]

I understand Twitter wasn’t a franchise commitment for LM and their customer service team did it as a bit on the side when they could. It certainly wasn’t 24 hour.

It was initially set up as a personal project by the then Marketing Manager/Director (I forget his precise role) and he manned it himself "on the side" for months (and then it basically was 24 hour as he just did it from his phone). This was quite useful as he had quite a lot of power to do things like arrange stop orders and so those using it gained very high customer satisfaction - but it was never going to last once things became more mainstream, and I think it was indeed passed to the CS team with quite limited hours.

VT have an advert up for Social Media Assistant at the moment with a salary of £31,941. Assuming WMT would pay around the same, with five or six staff minimum for dedicated 24 hour operation that’s £150k - £180k per year. I wouldn’t say that’s not expensive. Particularly if the bid was put together on the basis there would be no additional cost as it was already covered...

Wow, I wonder how such a high salary is justified for what is basically a modern take on a customer service call centre operative? I'd have expected £25K tops, maybe even less.

 

[dorsetdesiro]

Wow, I wonder how such a high salary is justified for what is basically a modern take on a customer service call centre operative? I'd have expected £25K tops, maybe even less.

Complex knowledge such as coding may be required, the really long hours sitting at the computer plus the stress of getting bombarded by numerous tweets when something goes wrong, justifying the higher salary?

Regarding VTEC, I've had a slightly intimate e-mail from them as my trip to Edinburgh is coming up. This took me back to school when I would get text messages requesting dates, some parts of the wording seem like it was written by some Hollyoaks fan too shy to approach you!

"Can we have your number? *blushes*
We’ll send you info about your upcoming journey - no Snapchats (promise). Simply log in below to share your number"

I'm not a fan of the overfamilar & chatty social media hype that Virgin can be notorious for which I hope WMT are not aping them too much...

 

[HowardGWR]

Regarding VTEC, I've had a slightly intimate e-mail from them as my trip to Edinburgh is coming up. This took me back to school when I would get text messages requesting dates, .

My emphasis. Modest chap are we?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Complex knowledge such as coding may be required, the really long hours sitting at the computer plus the stress of getting bombarded by numerous tweets when something goes wrong, justifying the higher salary?

Regarding VTEC, I've had a slightly intimate e-mail from them as my trip to Edinburgh is coming up. This took me back to school when I would get text messages requesting dates, some parts of the wording seem like it was written by some Hollyoaks fan too shy to approach you!

"Can we have your number? *blushes*
We’ll send you info about your upcoming journey - no Snapchats (promise). Simply log in below to share your number"

I'm not a fan of the overfamilar & chatty social media hype that Virgin can be notorious for which I hope WMT are not aping them too much...

That's overstepping the mark IMO. Something like old LM was fine - modern, 'with it' but not the ridiculousness shown by VTEC.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's overstepping the mark IMO. Something like old LM was fine - modern, 'with it' but not the ridiculousness shown by VTEC.

Even VTWC isn't quite so ridiculously over the top. LNR/WMT still sound like a bunch of three year olds got their crayons out but in a non-fittingly professional Helvetica-like font (the rubbish they are coming out with would be more in keeping with Comic Sans, to be honest). I believe I know who is doing their publicity now (or at least who keeps shouting about it on Twitter) and I wouldn't give him a job as far as I could throw him having seen the rank amateurism of it. They need to get Stenning back in to sort it out.

 

[pt_mad]

Unsurprisingly, WMT have already breached their franchise commitment to introduce 24-hour social media by April. They're very woolly about it - a while back they said it would be coming in May, now they say they have no information as to when it will start. It's just the same as XC's WiFi still not being free despite it being a franchise commitment for it to be so by April. Are passengers being compensated? Of course not. Is the DfT going to do anything about it? Hardly. On goes the franchising gravy train, where breaches of contract don't really matter unless it's about the DfT's money or enough important people kick up a fuss.

If it were up to me, they wouldn't get a penny more of their allotted subsidy until they complied with their (achievable) franchise obligations in full. It's not difficult to do the two things I've talked about here, but there simply isn't enough of a penalty to discourage the TOCs from riding roughshod over their obligations, and they were the ones who willingly bid for the contract and put forward that they were willing to abide by the terms.

And havn't XC breached theirs for not fitting HSTs with electric doors by now?

 

[ChrisHogan]

Unsurprisingly, WMT have already breached their franchise commitment to introduce 24-hour social media by April. They're very woolly about it - a while back they said it would be coming in May, now they say they have no information as to when it will start. It's just the same as XC's WiFi still not being free despite it being a franchise commitment for it to be so by April. Are passengers being compensated? Of course not. Is the DfT going to do anything about it? Hardly. On goes the franchising gravy train, where breaches of contract don't really matter unless it's about the DfT's money or enough important people kick up a fuss.

If it were up to me, they wouldn't get a penny more of their allotted subsidy until they complied with their (achievable) franchise obligations in full. It's not difficult to do the two things I've talked about here, but there simply isn't enough of a penalty to discourage the TOCs from riding roughshod over their obligations, and they were the ones who willingly bid for the contract and put forward that they were willing to abide by the terms.

How do you know 24-hour social media is in the final Franchise Agreement as that document doesn't appear to have been released by the DfT? Announcing something as an aspiration and being required to introduce something under the FA are quite different. Frankly I would have thought that issues such as the Kenilworth service, CrossCity extension, cascade of 319s, 350/4s, 172/0s, introduction of 230s and a completely revamped New Street timetable in December are much more important priorities this year for WMT than 24-hour social media for a TOC only running a handful of 24-hour services.

 

[STKKK46]

How do you know 24-hour social media is in the final Franchise Agreement as that document doesn't appear to have been released by the DfT? Announcing something as an aspiration and being required to introduce something under the FA are quite different. Frankly I would have thought that issues such as the Kenilworth service, CrossCity extension, cascade of 319s, 350/4s, 172/0s, introduction of 230s and a completely revamped New Street timetable in December are much more important priorities this year for WMT than 24-hour social media for a TOC only running a handful of 24-hour services.

Excellent points, well made.

 

[whhistle]

Complex knowledge such as coding may be required, the really long hours sitting at the computer plus the stress of getting bombarded by numerous tweets when something goes wrong, justifying the higher salary?

[Coding] isn't required, but a good suggestion!

They use(d) a piece of web software (I can't remember the name, nor can I find it now!) before looking at other options for tweet capture. Means they can get stats on how many people are tweeting a particular subject and what not.

The team came from Customer Relations but to show they were a "different" team, the initial salary was higher. This then increased at the normal rate each year ballooning it to what you see today, being fuelled by the belief it's life or death importance.

Overnight, it's manned by the Information Controller, which is a 24-hour post.
WMT could pay the info controller a little more money and build it into their contract when the usual Twitter team goes home.

 

[brick60000]

The 350 I have just travelled on (350375) announced "Welcome aboard this London Northwestern Railway service to...". Quite nice to hear operator specific automated announcements again! Anyone else heard this on aan other units?

 

[brick60000]

The 350 I have just travelled on (350375) announced "Welcome aboard this London Northwestern Railway service to...". Quite nice to hear operator specific automated announcements again! Anyone else heard this on aan other units?

Further to that, 350255 also announcing WMR on a local to International. Somewhat spoilt by the long spiel re baggage which then announced thank you for travelling with LNR!

 

[mde]

It doesn't strike me as a hard thing to achieve - it isn't exactly staff intensive nor does it require particularly expensive staff.

If memory serves, the Virgin feeds switch to control staff at night rather than them having their 'social' team staffed 24x7 - it seems to work… you might even get less memes!

The problem with limited hours, in the increasingly online world, can become apparent when disruption happens close to the end of social media staffing, as was seen recently at ScotRail - they took a roasting after disruption at Glasgow Central a few weeks ago because their social media desk closed shortly thereafter with no fallback (and no one for people to contact unless they were at a station with a help point), leading to some very disgruntled punters.

 

[mde]

Further to that, 350255 also announcing WMR on a local to International. Somewhat spoilt by the long spiel re baggage which then announced thank you for travelling with LNR!

Is it still Julie Berry?

 

[Bletchleyite]

The 350 I have just travelled on (350375) announced "Welcome aboard this London Northwestern Railway service to...". Quite nice to hear operator specific automated announcements again! Anyone else heard this on aan other units?

Yep, on a 350/1 about 20 minutes ago. It seems to have been re-recorded, the pushchair bit doesn’t grate as much.

 

[mb]

I myself would not be happy with this. Their current pricing strategy suits me well as a price-conscious traveller - I enjoy the mix of very cheap Advances (e.g. I can get a £6 advance to London for next week if I go at mid-day), plus very reasonable Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak prices. Their Anytimes aren't unreasonable given the existing demand (if anything, they could be higher).

It's VTWC's strategy that I am very disappointed in. It's very rare to get a cheap Advance, especially with the current timetable issues, yet their Off-Peaks are unbelievably restricted and the Anytimes ludicrously expensive. Makes them and the DfT a lot of money, sure, but it means they're carting around thin air for a lot of the actual Off-Peak times - when that capacity could just as well be used to reduce overcrowding and decrease journey times for those forced onto WMT by the pricing.

Also, the first morning and last evening services are far too late and early, respectively, for WMT - not very useful for days out!

I couldn't agree more with this. It costs me just £10.50 on an advanced fare to get into London from the West Midlands and I arrive before 10am. Long may this continue. Family finances would be under considerable strain if I were priced off this route. I can get from BTG to EUS cheaper than BTG to BHM a lot of the time!

I'd love to use Virgin, but their prices are too much for me and the off-peak period times have been getting more restrictive in recent years. The cheapest EUS>BHM fare on Virgin now for me is around the £9 mark on the 1403 weekdays. Anything after that is considerably more. I can remember being able to leave Euston much later, but Virgin seemed to mess with the fares and timings years ago which moved me onto LM. Even Chiltern have a very reasonably priced sub-£10 fare leaving London on a weekday afternoon much later.

 

[pt_mad]

Is it still Julie Berry?

I kind of wish they'd use another voice, as their recent poster campaign suggests a more modern image. The current onboard voice sounds very 1980s.

 

[trash80]

Wow, I wonder how such a high salary is justified for what is basically a modern take on a customer service call centre operative? I'd have expected £25K tops, maybe even less.

Depends on where they are based of course, 25K wouldn't be enough in London.

 

[Mojo]

Genuine question, why does it matter if they’re 24 hours?

If you’re going to provide cover whilst trains are running, then you might as well provide it overnight. Especially given that it’s quite feasible for early morning trains to be running at around the time the last train at night stables.

24 hour coverage encompasses three shifts per day (let’s say 06.30-14.30, 14.30-22.30 and 22.30-06.30). You’d need a team of 4 people to cover this and maybe one more to cover annual leave. I’m not sure what time exactly the last LM passenger train runs, but let’s say it’s at 01.00 and the first train runs at 04.00 (I know this is wrong because they run very early and very late services to Milton Keynes, it’s just an example), then it’s hard to envisage any manpower savings as you still would probably need three shifts per day to cover it, without any backup in the event of major disruption where the last trains are running late but your late turn has already booked off.

 

[HH]

Depends on where they are based of course, 25K wouldn't be enough in London.

No-one bases social media/call centres in London for precisely that reason. Also EC & WC tend to pay more for just about every job than other TOCs.

 

[trash80]

Well quite a few companies/orgs are based in London when they don't need to.

There is shortage of skills in these areas too which has to taken into account wrt salaries. We lost someone in a related area a few months ago (better paid job elsewhere), the replacement didn't turn up as they got a better paid gig too! (And before someone says SM & marketing isn't a skilled area, you don't know anything about what it entails if you think that )

 

[mde]

I kind of wish they'd use another voice, as their recent poster campaign suggests a more modern image. The current onboard voice sounds very 1980s.

I actually don't mind Julie's voice on announcements - compared to some of the station announcements (Atos Anne, I'm looking at you) and on-train announcers (some of the LUL ones, e.g. Jubilee line) it's quite good.

Of course, I'm up in Scotland - so, we have one voice across the entire network on ScotRail (excluding the stations) - the inconsistencies there tend to be either [a] wrong intonation, or the units on the Desiros which don't do a great job of combining the various audio files so you get odd silences. It used to be much worse though, many years ago the previous voice used by NX (seemingly nicknamed 'Sonya') was truly dire. I'm not sure if you could get a more disinterested sounding voice doing your announcements. The YouTube link provides a demo tape of sorts, about 2m long.

 

[Idon'tKnow]

The 350 I have just travelled on (350375) announced "Welcome aboard this London Northwestern Railway service to...". Quite nice to hear operator specific automated announcements again! Anyone else heard this on aan other units?

I noticed that today, it was nice to hear "LondonNorthwestern" on my 350.
On a side note, a manual announcement was made the other day on a 323 about not putting pushchairs on the platform and stepping backwards!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Genuine question, why does it matter if they’re 24 hours?

Because, on a weekday, they operate a 24 hour[1] service, and the argument is that, as it's the easiest way to contact them urgently and there'll be few staff about at that kind of time, it should be operational for the full period of service. And I do agree with that.

[1] The unit that operates the 0134 Euston-MKC operates back as the 0330 MKC-Euston without "locking up" in most cases, so there is always, except on a Saturday night-Sunday morning, a WMT (LNR) train in service at any given time of day.