WHY LITTLE THINGS MATTER FOR ARRIVA RAIL LONDON
Launching a new timetable
This is where it all began. Back in 2019, Arriva Rail announced that they were increasing the number of trains to ten times an hour on the North London Line. We had to make sure that everyone on the Line had to know about the changes, what it meant for customers and what it meant for them. We produced briefing packs for Train Drivers, Station Staff, as well as other members of the team – plus video, posters and internal social posters that brought to life the new 10 trains an hour in a fun and customer focused campaign.
Improving performance on the network
Every second counts in rail. If a train takes a few more seconds than planned to leave every station on its route, it can be minutes behind in no time at all, and that affects everyone on the line – and can also cost the company. Our job was to show how everyone could play a part in delivering an even better service for customers – by making sure customers got on the trains in good time and the trains left promptly.
Covid response
Just as we were in the midst of the rollout of our performance campaign and helping to improve train performance, Covid struck. Now it was more important to celebrate the role of our team in helping to keep the trains running, especially for other key workers who relied on our service during this time. We quickly pivoted the campaign to say thank you to the team and celebrate their critical role at this time.
Intervening in a dispute
In a unionised environment, sometimes comms can help to resolve a dispute. With a new Sunday Working timetable being introduced on the East Anglia line, we produced a range of materials to remind Train Drivers of the benefits of the new contract. The message was deliberately direct – bringing out the benefits in a simple and powerful campaign. The campaign has helped to remind Drivers of the value of the new working arrangements – especially important in a time of heightened industrial action.
“[Staff] have been more engaged in this timetable change than any in the past…”
–Christopher Keating, Customer Experience Manager
COMMS AUDIT DELIVERS
A comms audit has rarely delivered such outstanding results as this. It started with a novel process. Rather than running a survey; we hit the network, having ‘micro conversations’ – grabbing 10 minutes with colleagues in stations and across the network, as well as conducting focus groups in stations, depots and offices. We were at one depot on the day of a strike; and we went to visit the cleaning team at 10pm in Watford!
Testimonial
“Hannah was extremely helpful to me as I stepped into a new role. She talked me through change communications principles and came up with practical suggestions that we could apply.”