You might feel like it … but better to tell the Managers what needs to be improved.
SouthEastern will be holding one of their periodic “Meet the Managers” events on the Charing Cross concourse from 0800 to 1000 on Thursday 18 September. If you travel through Charing Cross, please take a few moments to tell those responsible for your train service what you think of it and how it could be improved.
Issues you might raise:
- What’s really going to be different under the new franchise? Why is it going to be a “Fresh Start“?
- What the “tough targets” in the new franchise – which the Rail Minister has not yet published?
- The Government are saying that the subsidy during the new franchise is going to be lower: what are Southeastern going to cut in order to balance the books?
- The proposed timetable from January 2015 – how does this affect you (detailed analysis here, our comments here and here)?
- Fares next year: with Southeastern boasting that the number of passengers – and fares – has grown by 32% since 2006 and the costs of the railway largely fixed, shouldn’t fares be going down not up?
What are Southeastern going to do to improve passenger information, particularly during the inevitable disruption during the London Bridge rebuilding? Last week’s incidents were just a taste of what is to come. Why do Southeastern think that iPads for staff will do the job when the previous issue of Blackberrys obviously didn’t?
The identical Meet The Managers timings are not suitable for many commuters, many of whom will already be at their desks in Canary Wharf or wherever by 0800. It would be far better to hold most of them in the evenings when it’s far easier to find the time simply by taking a later train home.
Other operators such as Chiltern and London Midland are far better, holding evening MTM sessions, and South West Trains even have All Day events. Surely, SER would get a lot more feedback by holding them at varied and better times?
Could it be that SER are really not in the least interested and are merely going through the motions, so the fewer complaints the better?
Why do Southeastern limit Meet The Manager participation to Commuters Only?
By always choosing such an inappropriate 0800 – 1000 timeslot, the managers will all be scarpering just as the first Off-Peak trains start arriving !
If Southeastern genuinely wanted accurate feedback, they’d have made Meet The Managers a fully inclusive event.
From @CharlieRose1 via Twitter
Questions to include: Do they really understand they can’t get away with their behaviour anymore & have to deliver