Rail commuter satisfaction yet to be gauged

Coming on top of a series of industrial disputes, most of which have left passengers stranded, consumers are losing faith in …

Coming on top of a series of industrial disputes, most of which have left passengers stranded, consumers are losing faith in the State's one provider of rail services, according to the Consumers' Association chief executive. Mr Dermott Jewell said confidence had been diminishing gradually all year. The summer strike lasted more than 10 weeks but even one day's strike - such as yesterday's - could be very damaging to the economy as well as to the consumer, he added.

There should be a system in place whereby these disputes are resolved before the consumer is affected, Mr Jewell said. Iarnrod Eireann is a monopoly provider, so after complaining to the company people should lobby the Government directly, he advised.

A spokeswoman for the European Consumers' Centre suggested the European Consumer Satisfaction Index, which included Ireland for the first time this year, might be extended to include transport so comparisons could be made.

Iarnrod Eireann's press officer, Mr Barry Kenny, said it had been a difficult year generally, with the significant stoppage during the summer and a number of other industrial relations disputes causing stoppages. "There is no doubt there is a lot of frustration among customers. As to people's loss of confidence, yesterday's strike can't have helped," he admitted.

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"The 40 to 50,000 people affected are fed up. Coming on top of last week's floods, there is a perception that service has been patchy," Mr Kenny accepted.

The company had recovered from the summer and people had come back to the trains, he added. "A lot of people would prefer to use our services rather than drive."

But the number of complaints from the public has been relatively small, he said, and people understood the difficulties posed by the industrial relations issues. "But the public's tolerance and patience is finite and we do apologise to people for the disruption. People who had purchased a ticket to travel yesterday can get a full refund from the ticket office."

Iarnrod Eireann regularly uses focus groups to survey different market segments, from business to leisure to students, he said. The company has a customer charter indicating the standard of service people can expect and it conducts regular research with focus groups. The charter was put in place in September 1999, and is posted in stations around the country. It is also on the website www.irishrail.ie

It promises twice-yearly service reviews measuring actual performance against the targets set out in the charter. The results will be published and action taken to improve matters, according to the charter. However, the process was delayed due to the strike in the summer, Mr Kenny said, and the contract to do the research for the first review is now out to tender.

So it may be some time before commuters find out, officially, whether the company's corporate mission "to satisfy our customers - always!" is being achieved.

Ms Lindis Page, a regular commuter on the Drogheda-Dublin line, said she drove in to Dublin yesterday morning and every morning for 10 weeks in the summer. "Industrial action is outside the control of the company so the charter is useless in this case. It's just paying lip service. If one looks at the charter, Iarnrod can use it to defend most things."

She said that when the service is in operation "it's excellent and incredible value. This strike is terribly inconvenient. It sends out completely the wrong message and leaves the consumer no option but to get in the car . . . it's incredibly frustrating."

Somewhat ironically, the teachers' strike seems to have balanced out the rail strike in terms of impact on Dublin traffic, so those who had to take to their cars shouldn't have fared too badly yesterday.