Cramped, poorly designed lavatories and a lack of luggage space on long-distance trains are biggest source of passenger discontent, a survey by Passenger Focus has found. The study investigated passengers' experience of nine existing long distance rail operators. It comes as industry awaits delivery of the next generation of carriages to replace the ageing Inter City fleet. The survey found that nearly two out of three of passengers who used Virgin's Pendolino trains between London and Scotland were unhappy. Even though train lavatories were considered largely clean and well maintained, passengers were unhappy about their design, particularly small size, and the washing and drying facilities. There were also complaints about poor signage to the lavatories and the lack of instructions about how to lock the door. In some cases the poor design meant that the floors were wet. Passengers on South West Trains were particularly unhappy with the “cramped” vestibule area by the doors, with some passengers facing difficulties manoeuvring luggage and push chairs. Passengers were also unhappy with security, accessibility and amount of stowage space. Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said the findings should be taken into account when the detailed designs are put together for the new fleet of long distance carriages. Source: Telegraph, 06 May 2009. tinyurl.com/oqebdo
03 July 2009
Passengers unhappy with poor design
Cramped, poorly designed lavatories and a lack of luggage space on long-distance trains are biggest source of passenger discontent, a survey by Passenger Focus has found. The study investigated passengers' experience of nine existing long distance rail operators. It comes as industry awaits delivery of the next generation of carriages to replace the ageing Inter City fleet. The survey found that nearly two out of three of passengers who used Virgin's Pendolino trains between London and Scotland were unhappy. Even though train lavatories were considered largely clean and well maintained, passengers were unhappy about their design, particularly small size, and the washing and drying facilities. There were also complaints about poor signage to the lavatories and the lack of instructions about how to lock the door. In some cases the poor design meant that the floors were wet. Passengers on South West Trains were particularly unhappy with the “cramped” vestibule area by the doors, with some passengers facing difficulties manoeuvring luggage and push chairs. Passengers were also unhappy with security, accessibility and amount of stowage space. Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said the findings should be taken into account when the detailed designs are put together for the new fleet of long distance carriages. Source: Telegraph, 06 May 2009. tinyurl.com/oqebdo
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