NRA prize caps a great year for c2c

With so much change, it was vital for c2c to nevertheless maintain the strengths it has established in recent years. 

Top of these is the reputation for punctuality. In December 2014, c2c celebrated a third successive year as the UK’s most punctual train operator, and England World Cup 1966 hero Sir Geoff Hurst joined staff to help celebrate c2c’s very own special hat-trick at his old stamping ground (West Ham United FC). c2c’s annual PPM is currently 96.9%, compared with the average for all London and South East train operators of 89.0%. 

The latest National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS), produced by Transport Focus and carried out at the time NRA judging took place earlier this year, showed that passengers recognise and appreciate c2c’s punctuality record - 91% of passengers were satisfied with punctuality, more than any other train operator. 

The NRPS showed that on c2c, 89% of passengers were satisfied overall. The operator also scored above the London and South East average score in 28 of the 36 categories. And c2c was named the best London commuter operator in the increasingly influential annual passenger survey by Which? magazine.

In the past year, c2c has also recorded zero Signals Passed At Danger (SPADs), for the first time in seven years. This compares with five and three SPADs respectively in the previous two years. 

This was achieved through c2c’s 13-point SPAD Action Plan, which introduced a combination of approaches - from increased training and more direct contact time for drivers with their managers, to targeted briefing on high-risk locations and covert out-of-hours checks (even including during England’s first game of the 2014 football World Cup, which kicked off at around midnight on a Saturday night).

c2c has also stepped up real-time service to passengers by moving to a 24/7 contact operation. It moved its Twitter service to a 24/7, 363 days a year operation, and introduced a 24/7 disabled customer helpline to allow people to travel without needing to arrange travel in advance. It also introduced a promise to answer all customer calls within 45 seconds.

This year c2c introduced its first extensive consultation on the new timetable that will be introduced in December, and which will deliver 20% more peak services. 

More than 2,200 customers responded, and as a result c2c was able to make significant changes before submitting the proposals to Network Rail.

The new franchise means a significant change to c2c’s profit profile over the coming years, but 2014 still represented c2c’s best ever year for revenue, with a 6% growth in total income. “The extensive changes to our commercial offer means that we expect revenue to grow even further,” the company says.

It’s been a hard year for c2c because of the transition, but the effort has all been worth it for the NRA Passenger Operator of the Year. 

• This feature was published in RAIL 784 (September 30 - October 13 2015)