Thank you so much, for your time and for all your insightful questions. We're always happy to listen to your ideas, views and answer any questions you have, and thank you for travelling with us
We hope to see you all soon at the other side of this

Our colleagues and BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) are requested to engage with our customers who are not wearing coverings and have been fully briefed that there are some people who are exempt from the mandatory policy due to health reasons.


We’ve been working with representative groups (such as The National Deaf Children's Society and Action on Hearing Loss, amongst others) as well as the rail industry for a sensible solution which will provide confidence and reassurance to those who are exempt from wearing a face covering. This could take the form of a card which states the bearer is exempt from wearing a face covering, as an example.


Once we work out the details, we will announce it on our website, social media and other communication channels. 

We're committed to providing the same level of catering as before the pandemic. I can understand for those who were used to the buffet, the trolley might not feel like the same but the feedback we've had from a number of customers, who would have previously not used the buffet (not wanting to lose their seat, or leave their belongings behind, those with reduced mobility) the trolley has been quite welcome.
We are constantly listening to customer feedback about our products, and refreshing them to meet customer demand. We recently increased our vegan and gluten free range after customer feedback.
We're very proud of our Pullman service, and look forward to the day we can reintroduce it

Our capacity calculations are based on individual passengers and not on groups - it would be quite difficult to work that out, as group size might vary quite considerably.

We remain deeply committed to the safety of our customers and colleagues. This is one of core values, and the baseline for everything we do. The frequency of the rail standard safety announcements on IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) meet the industry requirement of every 30 minutes.  We also have safety messages on the passenger information screens. 

Safety labels are seen throughout the saloon areas and vestibules and we are updating this shortly to include ‘Mind the Gap’ signs in the vestibules by the door threshold.

The HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) had safety cards removed a while ago and had them placed at the ends of the carriages and on some of the panels between windows. On the IETs there are safety notices at the ends of the carriage, throughout the carriage and we also promote the safety pages of the website when customers log onto the WiFi on the train.   

Light sticks are no longer required as the train is fitted with emergency lighting including light strips and signage that are clearly visible without train lights.

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Incidents such as this are uncommon and any station “fail to call” is classified as a ‘safety of the line’ incident and is taken very seriously with extensive follow-up to ensure it doesn’t happen again.  If you’re able to provide specific details (date and time) of the two instances mentioned, we would be happy to look into this.


The point that train managers/conductors are spending more time in cabs due to COVID-19 may well be true, but this would not cause a fail to call incident.


Of course, if a customer has been over-carried due to an error on our part (fail to call) we would absolutely provide alternatives to get them to their intended destination. In some instances, the quickest option may be a return train journey from the next station, but a taxi could also be provided if that wasn’t a viable option. 

We recognise the aspiration and are working with Network Rail and the Department for Transport to progress reopening of the line as an obvious candidate for the Restore your Railway initiative.  We will keep you informed as this progresses.

We're able to clean them within the current turnaround times we have

Thank you for the welcome, it's good to be here. Our view is that all public transport is covered by the Govt advice, but our focus is on trains. Definitely not suggesting the bus as an option

We’d love to bring our catering offer back to our customers, but with the social distancing rules, it would be quite difficult to achieve on our trains. We’re working on different plans to slowly reintroduce catering, when the time is right.   

Our Safety team continue to carry out risk assessments and work out how to safely reintroduce catering, but we don’t have a date in mind as yet. This depends on Government advice and how the pandemic progresses.

SB^▸ (Signal Box)
 

Our main priority is the safety of our customers and of our colleagues. We’re guided by Government advice on travel on public transport. We’re preparing for when we can welcome more customers (trust me, we really miss our customers!) but from a practical standpoint, with social distancing in place, there are very limited spaces on our trains. This does not mean that if you have an interview, and you can’t get to it using your own transport, you’re not allowed to travel on trains – all of our work is to ensure we keep those spaces free for those who need it. We do ask that, as per Government advice, if you can work from home, or if you can travel another way, then you do so. This can be by car as you mention, but also by walking or cycling.


 


We want to ensure those customers that do need to make a journey by train are able to do so with social distancing and feel safe in a railway environment.
 

Good evening everyone, I'm the Head of Customer Experience for GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway). I've been with the company for over 5 years now, starting off as a Dispatcher at London Paddington, and holding several roles in Stations and in the Customer Experience team. I'm looking forward to hearing your views and answering your questions today