Giving rail customers a voice with roundtable event

Rail travel was the hot topic again as customers were invited to a follow-up event hosted by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) to talk about all things rail.

As a continuation of last year's popular rail roundtable in September, business travel professionals from the likes of the BBC and Network Rail, sat down at Chelsea Football Club in January.

They were joined by our Rail Proposition Manager, Account Management team, Executive Team members and representatives from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), Evolvi and Black Box Partnerships.

It is great to attend sessions like this and learn from industry consultants about the changes in the rail industry. I can feed any insight back to my travellers so they can find out about the changes taking place. I'm particularly excited about how split ticketing can save costs and how seat maps can provide a better traveller experience.

Commented Emily Fearnley, Supplier Contract Specialist at Network Rail.

The main purpose of the day was to discuss key topics identified by our customers, like Delay Repay processing, e-ticket+, seat maps and split ticketing. Discussions also covered the considerations the industry needs to take and the processes that need to be implemented specific to business travellers. RDG and Evolvi shared the ways they are improving the customer experience and the steps involved alongside Government, train operating companies, business travel and industry associations. They also covered new initiatives, like the Event Pass (which is in discovery), whereby the RDG are collaborating across many organisations to explore ways to potentially standardise the approach for rail when travelling for meetings, events and groups, and encourage a wider conversation around how travel is booked in conjunction with meetings and events.

Marina Gray, Head of Retail Partnerships at Rail Delivery Group said:

We value our strong relationship with Clarity, and we were pleased to again be part of their knowledge exchange with their customers, which brought together industry experts and business travel professionals. It was clear that we all share a strong commitment to improving the customer experience on rail and this platform enabled us to further provide updates on key rail initiatives and projects. RDG has significantly increased our engagement across with the business travel community and we want to make it as easy as possible for businesses to make rail their first choice.

This roundtable is just one of the many face-to-face collaborative events our Account Management team, who recently scored a world-class net promoter score of 90, have organised to ensure customers are not only getting added value, but the opportunity to collaborate with suppliers and peers whilst shaping our future activity. Whilst change can be at a different pace in rail, it is evident change is starting to happen which can only benefit all involved. These are great sessions that our customers find beneficial. In fact, some customers are already connecting outside of the sessions to learn from one another. I want to thank everyone involved for their efforts in creating a voice for the business traveller," said Leanne Fowler, Director of Account Management at Clarity.

Our Account Management team will hold another session for customers in March and July, alongside a webinar (running 20 March) on the Green Travel Pledge project -the rail industry's commitment to provide detailed, accurate and reliable data on the carbon emissions of rail journeys.