RBA2009 PreView Cover v2-1.indd - Rail Professional

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Preview Eversholt Rail Business Awards 2009Northern RailFirst Great Western – Safety and BusinessSoutheasternSoutheastern developed the ‘big picture’campaign to help improve employeeengagement and create an internaldialogue and common understanding of thecompany’s objectives and goals.The big picture is an image, created byemployees, capturing the company’s visionof how it intends to become one of theUK’s leading train operators and highlightthe challenges and opportunities facingthe company over the next 18 months andbeyond.To help explain and encourage discussion,a ‘big picture’ of Southeastern was created.The idea is that anyone, in any department ofthe company, can look at the picture and seehow they fit into the organisation, and look atthe past, the present, and an ideal version ofthe future, as described by fellow employees.Page fourteenLondon UndergroundFirst Great Western – WesternLinesLondon UndergroundThe demand on the London Undergroundhas never been higher, so the Tube mustdeliver major improvements to keep up withthis growth and to deliver the service thatLondon needs and deserves.London Underground realised there was aneed for staff to work together in ways thatwere new both for the staff and for LondonUnderground in general.As part of a sustained employeeengagement programme, LU developed‘Valuing Time’, a series of one-dayworkshops for every one of LU’s 10,500operational staff. The workshops wereintended to ensure that every member ofstaff was better able to understand theirown role and the roles of their colleagues,and to better understand the challengesand opportunities presented by the Tube’stransformation. The ultimate objective ofthe workshops was to help equip employeesto play their role in driving up performanceby minimising journey times, maximisingcustomer satisfaction – and delivering abetter service for all.First TransPennine ExpressFirst TransPennine Express (FTPE) employsapproximately 1,000 staff and throughoutthe last year it has significantly ramped upits internal communications activities.Operating in a challenging andeconomically difficult environment, FTPErealised that if it was to prosper, rather thanjust survive, in the recession then its peoplewere key to delivering great service everyday. As such these ‘deliverers’ needed to beinformed and fully engaged in the business.FTPE thus sought to provide communicationsthat inspired colleagues to achieve resultsand continually improve the customeroffering.FTPE remains one of the few growingtrain operators – and that success is downto the teams across its business and theinformation it has received.Northern RailTell Heidi is a channel for employees tosend in rumours or ideas and suggestionsfor improvements to Heidi Mottram, themanaging director of Northern Rail. Sheanswers them through a monthly newsletteror replies personally to the individual.The company has also taken the concepton the road by organising Tell Heidi Live roadshows. The Tell Heidi brand also provided aplatform to re-launch the employee survey,which helped to drive an 85 per cent increasein the response rate – and showed that 72per cent of employees enjoy working forNorthern.First GBRfAs the company has grown, freight operatorFirst GBRf has had to modify its approachto its internal communications strategyto accommodate a larger staff base andincreased level of productivity.A good example of how First GBRf haschanged with the times is the introductionof its Mobile Worker Project, a device whichallows staff on the ground to access all thedata they require day to day.Not only does the project improveproductivity, as it makes information moreaccessible, therefore saving time andreducing costs to the company – it alsoprovides a new channel of communication forground staff.
PR Campaign of the yearNorthern RailFirst TransPennine ExpressSoutheasternTranslinkGreengauge 21First Capital ConnectTranslinkIn Summer 2008, Translink NI Railwaysbegan a £12.5m track-life extension projecton the Londonderry Railway line thatconcluded, on time and on budget, at the endof June 2009.The project aimed to provide TranslinkNorthern Ireland Railways passengers with abetter local rail service to ultimately continuepassenger growth along the LondonderryLine. The programme of work consisted oftwo phases. The second, larger, track relayphase involved a 13-week railway line closurebetween Ballymena and Coleraine. The PRcampaign was devised to keep passengers,residents, stakeholders and the generalpublic fully informed.SoutheasternThe objectives for Southeastern’s PRcampaign were to increase awareness for thelaunch of its new high-speed preview service,to improve Southeastern’s reputation, reacha wide range of audiences and support theregeneration of Kent and Thames Gatewayarea.Using the organisation’s small in-house PRand communications team, a programme ofPR events was created to successfully launchthe UK’s first ever domestic high-speed‘preview’ services. The key messages werekept simple, concentrating on ‘speed’ and‘time savings.’ The imagery and pictures ofthe event were focused on the Hitachi highspeedtrain – modern technology and aniconic design.The PR campaign generated anunprecedented amount of powerful positivepress coverage, equivalent to around£500,000 advertising value. The momentumcontinued growing organically in the followingweeks – with a double-page spread in theEvening Standard entitled ‘All aboard thehappy train’ and awarded ‘best transport’ byTime Out in the Best of London 2009 specialissue.First Capital ConnectFirst Capital Connect had become awarethat it can be difficult to engage with thetravelling public – they are often on autopilotand become immune to posters, signage oradvertisements.That’s why FCC felt it was so importantto develop an eye-catching, engagingcommunication campaign to capture theimagination of its customers for the durationof the Thameslink Programme.The campaign has been amazingly wellreceived by customers and its impact hasbeen significant with nearly 100 per centawareness of the programme amongst thecommuter passenger group. The ThameslinkProgramme website is the cornerstone of thecampaign and with more than 270,000 sitehits, it has been a thundering success.Greengauge 21In 2007, Greengauge 21 set out to convinceBritain of the case for high-speed rail.Through continual lobbying, briefing,consultations, speeches, and publiccomment, Jim Steer and Julie Mills promotedhigh-speed rail, initially in the face ofindifference and scepticism.An innovative public interest group wasestablished in 2008 to fund an authoritativebody of research, and in September 2009Greengauge 21 published the Fast Forwardhigh-speed rail strategy for Britain. Thereis now cross-party political commitment tohigh-speed and widespread support fromthe rail industry, city councils and regionalauthorities. High-speed rail is now at the topof the transport agenda.First TransPennine ExpressTrain operator First TransPennine Expressrealised that during the recession, thechances of encouraging leisure travellersto take the train and spend precious cashon non-essential journeys were pretty slim.With this in mind, the company took on thechallenge of making the recession good forbusiness.Through a combination of communicationsand marketing tactics, excellent inviting offersand value for money deals, the companyshowed how a positive approach in a negativeclimate could pay dividends. Passengernumbers continued to grow, income wasmaintained and the company’s reputation as avalue-for-money company was enhanced.Northern RailThe Northern Rail Film Challenge is anindustry-first partnership that gives youngpeople a unique opportunity to producepowerful, emotional films about railwaysafety that speak directly to their friends andpeers.Northern Rail worked with schools andcolleges to challenge teams of 14 to 19-yearoldstaking a new vocational qualification toresearch, film, produce and edit a three to fiveminute film to encourage their peers to keepout of trouble.The project achieved excellent mediacoverage – the films are being used as part ofthe company’s community programme, andthe feedback from schools and colleges hasbeen superb.Page fifteen
Page 3 and 4: Meet our sponsorsEversholt Rail Gro
Page 5 and 6: Eversholt Rail Business Awards 2009
Page 7 and 8: IRO SSP Young Train Professional Op
Page 9 and 10: ailProfessional Subscription AD Qua
Page 13: Eversholt Rail Business Awards 2009
Page 19 and 20: Information Technology of the yearF
Page 21 and 22: Department for Transport Station Ex
Page 27 and 28: VTG Rail Freight Excellence of the
Page 33 and 34: ATA Rail Business Manager of the ye

RBA2009 PreView Cover v2-1.indd - Rail Professional

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?