Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2006-12-16 05:08:52 - Graham Ellis
I'm enthusiatic in my support for the TransWilts train services, but I'm not an enthusiast. And I'm not an expert on any aspects of the railways, but I have some expertise on aspects of how the railway runs. Such is the symantics of my ongoing pressures for an appropriate level of train service for the TransWilts line through Melksham.
It's an odd world, where a good question or a strong proposal that has no obvious holes in it elicits attention (perhaps limited just to being logged as a consultation input, but that's another day's story), but a proposal that's perceived as being from someone who's an expert outside the railway industry is deride with the word "amateur" applied.
And it's an odd world where enthusiasm for making good use of train travel is applauded, but taking an interest in which trains are used (even when it relates to timekeeping issues and comfort levels) has one put down as an 'anorak'.
In our training business, we listen our customers - not only do we encourage inputs at any time, but we then analyse and act on those inputs wherever it's appropriate to help us improve our product. With the train business, I get the impression that customer inputs are a necessary data flow to be received and analysed, but it doesn't go much further except in the case of extreme political pressure. Perhaps that's why our delegates agree with our "come as a student, leave as a friend" even after we've had our annual price review, yet companies such as First are getting bucketfuls of stick even before their January price rises have come into effect.