Rail industry 'must woo travellers'

The rail industry needs to rebuild public confidence

Customers will only be lured back to the trains with the help of a massive publicity campaign, according to a leading rail passenger adviser.

The chairman of the Rail Passengers Council, Stewart Francis, says passenger patience is exhausted and the rail industry must rebuild public confidence.

Mr Francis delivered his message to rail operators at the Rail Passenger 2000 conference in London on Wednesday.

It is failing to deliver what the passengers want

Stewart Francis, Rail Passengers Council

The meeting, designed to give passengers a voice in the debate on the crisis afflicting the railways, also heard calls for free travel and serious changes to the structure of the industry.

Speaking before the forum, Mr Francis said the public had lost confidence in rail safety and reliability.

"This crisis underlines the need for a long, hard look at the way the industry is structured - it is failing to deliver what the passengers want," he said.

"Passenger patience is now exhausted."

Radical review

Mr Francis said the publicity campaign should start as soon as track replacement work was completed.

The plan should be to encourage leisure and occasional passengers back to rail when services return to normal, he said.

In a discussion paper published on Wednesday, entitled Joining up the Railway, the RPC calls for:

• a radical review of Railtrack's structure
• a restructuring of rail franchises to ensure train companies and Railtrack share joint incentives and penalties
• a high-profile launch of the Strategic Rail Authority to emphasise the importance of the new body
• the SRA and the Rail Regulator should work closer together
• higher investment in the industry's human resource capabilities

Transport minister Keith Hill spoke at the forum, also attended by a number of directors from the UK's train operators.

The crisis on the railways has served to reverse the recent increase in rail travel.

A huge programme of track re-railing is still under way

Companies such as Midland Mainline have lost 20% of passengers, many fed up with enduring delays.

Compensation is available but the RPC wants the industry to pull what it calls a rabbit out of a hat - a national image revamp, and perhaps even a day's free travel.

The council's recommendations for structural change include fewer train companies running services, a new culture of co-operation between companies, and putting the passengers' interests first.