Rail Passenger Rights and Obligations Regulations – Article 28

Hull Trains Quality Standards – Rail Service Quality Report for 2020

Contents

1) Information and tickets
2) Punctuality and general principles to cope with disruption to services
3) Cancellation of services
4) Cleanliness of rolling stock and station facilities
5) Customer satisfaction survey
6) Complaint handling refunds and compensation
7) Assistance 

1. Information and ticket sales

Before travel
Information about our travel classes and availability of onboard services is available at Your Experience and from our Customer Services team.

Provision of information during the journey
All of our trains have clear signage throughout, giving information about the location and availability of onboard toilets and priority seating. Customers can also ask any member of the Hull Trains onboard team for this information.

Information regarding the next station will be announced onboard by our On Board Managers.

In the case of delays the On Board Manager will announce information at appropriate intervals.

The On Board Manager will also make announcements about main connecting services.

Information about incidents which cause significant disruption is available from our Customer Services team and on our Journey Check webpage.

Safety information can be found onboard, and the On Board Manager will also make announcements shortly before departure. Further announcements are made shortly after departure.
How requests for information are handled at the station
As we do not operate any stations, requests for information are handled by the station operator who provides staff or Help Points to assist with any queries.
How information about train schedules, tariffs and platforms is provided
Our train timetables are available on our Timetables webpage or through our app which can be downloaded from your local app store.

Information about train platforms can be found on our app in the ‘live trains’ section, on the National Rail website and on customer information screens at stations.

Ticket buying facilities
Customers can buy tickets for travel in advance or on the day of travel using our app, by visiting the ‘Buy now’ section of our website, by calling our contact centre on 0345 071 0222.
Availability of staff at the station for information provision and ticket sales
Although we do not operate any stations there are staff at most stations at which we call.  Details of the staffing provision for each station can be found on our Station Information webpage.
Where there are no staff, Help Points are provided to allow customers to gain further information about services.

There are ticket selling facilities, be it a staffed booking office or ticket vending machine at each station at which we call.  Details of these can be found on our Station Information webpage.
How information to disabled people and persons with reduced mobility is provided
Information on accessibility, access conditions and availability of onboard facilities for disabled people, people with reduced mobility and older people, is available on request from all staffed stations at which we call, our Passenger Assist team on 0800 316 1323 or the Passenger Assist webpage.

2. Punctuality and general principles to cope with disruption to services

Delays
At Hull Trains we set ourselves high standards of train punctuality and make every effort to get passengers to their destination on time. 

The table below shows our performance relating to delays from the start of Period 11 (05/01/20) 2019/20 to the end of Period 10 (09/01/21) 2020/21, as we do not measure to the exact 2020 calendar year.

Our on board teams will provide updated announcements will be made onboard the affected within two minutes of being notified of disruption or the train having come to a stand out of course, then at least every 10 minutes (or if the situation changes, whichever is soonest).

The 10 minute timescale is adhered to even if no new information has been received and the disruption has reached a steady state.

Information about connections and onward travel will be available from the On Board Manager.  They will also make an announcement regarding whether compensation is applicable.

We will make every effort to give customers a refreshments (not including alcohol) appropriate to the circumstances, location and duration of the delay.

Where a delay or cancellation of a Hull Trains service means that you have missed the last connection of the day or that you will not reach your destination at a reasonable time, we will either arrange for transport back to where you started your journey (and then allow you to travel the next day) or to your destination.  If this is not possible, we will provide overnight accommodation so that you can travel the next day.  We will not pay for accommodation which has not been authorised by ourselves.  If you decide not to travel as a result of a delay or cancellation of your service, and if we sold you the ticket, we will give you a full refund; otherwise, you should seek a refund from the point of purchase (unless this is the return portion of your ticket, in which case we will refund this).
Disruptions
When services are disrupted, we will aim to issue information through travel bulletins on local radio and television, and also through social media such as Twitter. Live travel information is also available on our Journey Check webpage. 
Delay Compensation Policy
For delays to our services we will make the following compensation available to customers:
 
All ticket holders may apply for compensation. The level of compensation is outlined below:
For journey delays* of between: 

To apply for Delay Repay compensation please visit our online Delay Repay portal or collect a form from one of the stations at which we call.

To apply for a refund, customers should go back to their point of purchase to obtain this.  If you bought through the Hull Trains website, app or via our Telesales team, please visit our Refund Portal.

3. Cancellation of services

When trains are cancelled, we provide the same information and help we give to customers affected by delays, and the same compensation policy applies.

The table below shows our performance relating to cancellations from the start of Period 11 (05/01/20) 2019/20 to the end of Period 10 (09/01/21) 2020/21, as we do not measure to the exact 2020 calendar year.

4. Cleanliness of rolling stock and station facilities

Train Cleaning and Cleaning Intervals
Our trains are cleaned after each commercial service and we also undertake periodic deep cleaning operations. On all services we have in journey cleaners that focus on maintaining the overall level of cleanliness en-route. 

We are currently working on an auditing regime and hope to have the set up in the next few months.
Air conditioning and air quality
All of our trains are equipped with air conditioning. Should this fail our On Board Manager will do everything they can to move customers to an alternative carriage.

Each of our 5 trains has 5 air condition units on board. Our performance for these in the 2020 calendar year was:
Availability of toilets
Our trains are fitted with 5 toilets, of which 2 are accessible toilets (1 in First Class and 1 in Standard Class).  At present we do not measure the availability of our toilets, but we are looking at a metric to record this in future.

5. Customer satisfaction survey

We continuously monitor customer satisfaction using the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) provided by Transport Focus and information obtained through the Wavelength system operated by the Rail Delivery Group.

We also survey customers who have contacted us both pre and post journey using our contact centre.

All this customer feedback is used across the business by senior management to direct long term strategy, and tactically by customer-facing teams to help improve customer service.

The following information is taken from the Spring 2020 NRPS results showing our performance in a number of key areas against the wider long-distance sector.
 *It should be noted that whilst we do not operate any stations, we are measured on this in the NRPS scoring.

Due to our recent service hibernations relating to the coronavirus pandemic we do not have substantive information from the Wavelength system or our call centres at present, but will provide this in next year’s report subject to its availability. 

6. Complaint handling refunds and compensation

Our Customer Services team is here to correspond with customers who are unhappy with their experience of the service that we provide. Appropriate compensation will be considered on a case by case basis.

We will use the customer’s preferred contact method when responding to a complaint.
Information on how to submit a complaint regarding our services is available on our Feedback webpage and in our Complaints Handling Procedure which can be found on our Support & Contact webpage.

This team also responds in cases where customers praise our service and also passes on suggestions for changes to services as well as complaints and requests for compensation due to delays.
Total number of complaints
The number of complaints received from the start of Period 11 (05/01/20) 2019/20 to the end of Period 10 (09/01/21) 2020/21, (as we do not measure to the exact 2020 calendar year), was 458 of which 414 were closed during this period.  It should be noted that some complaints are closed after the reporting year has ended, hence the difference in the figure between those received and closed.
Top 5 categories of complaint
The top 5 complaints categories from the start of Period 11 (05/01/20) 2019/20 to the end of Period 10 (09/01/21) 2020/21, (as we do not measure to the exact 2020 calendar year), are displayed in the table below:

Complaints processing
Of the complaints received in 2020: 
• 78.8% were closed in 5 working days, against a target of 90%.
• 97.4% closure rate within 20 working days, against a target of 95%.

It should be noted that the poor performance in the first of these measures was primarily due to the coronavirus pandemic and our ability to offer a service during the initial lockdown period.
Improvement Actions Undertaken
Many of these complaints were linked to COVID lockdowns and the refund processes that were followed.  The majority of these were linked to the second COVID lockdown and our decision to stop running at short notice for the duration of the lockdown.  Many customers had trains booked which we had to cancel; therefore, this caused some dissatisfaction as other operators continued to provide a reduced service throughout this and other lockdown periods.  We reviewed how we dealt with refunds and the ensured that the information for the third lockdown on our website was clearer so that passengers could get refunds more easily where appropriate.
Some complaints were also related to the period when we resumed our services after the first lockdown.  We completely removed our catering offer for health and safety reasons which caused dissatisfaction.  Furthermore, we provided a different system for ensuring passengers could socially distance on board our trains to that of other operators.  This meant that passengers did not have a specific seat reservation, but rather a 'counted place' so we could control ticket numbers.  We made changes to the way customers were informed about the system on our website and once they were used to the system complaints stopped. Specific seat reservations will be reintroduced on Hull Trains services for bookings made on or after 6th September 2021.

We continuously review key areas of concern and this drives investment for improvement as part of our business planning process.

7. Assistance

There are 2 options for booking assistance:
1. Pre booking
You can book assistance by either using the online booking form on our Passenger Assist webpage, or by calling our dedicated Passenger Assist line on 0800 316 1323.

For the most effective service, we recommend booking and reserving assistance (by the online booking form or phone) 6 hours before you travel.  If you wish to make a booking between the hours of 2200 and 0800 please use our online booking form which is available 24 hours a day. 

Customers who are deaf or hard of hearing can use the Text Relay service by adding the prefix 18001 in front of the Passenger Assist line number. A relay assistant will translate your call to text with the Next Generation Text service. To find out more about this service, visit ngts.org.uk

Please note, if you are booking assistance for first thing the next day, we advise you submit this booking to our team before 2200 to ensure it has been confirmed.

If your journey involves another train operator and we need them to confirm part of your journey, it might depend on their opening hours to enable us to confirm your assistance.  If this is the case, we will contact you to discuss your journey options, including how you might want to undertake your journey.
2. Turn-up-and-go
If pre booking 6 hours in advance is not possible, we ask our customers to arrive at least 20 minutes before departure – this is a non-guaranteed assistance booking.

Comprehensive information about the assistance services we provide and what to expect when travelling with us can be found on our Passenger Assist webpage in our Accessible Travel Policy Passenger Leaflet: Making Rail Accessible.
Assistances Completed
In 2020 we carried out approximately 122 booked assistances and 80 unbooked assistances for passengers.