The COVID pandemic has changed so many things - and the railways are no exception.
First came the exodus away from train travel, as we were all told to work from home. Then came the collapse of the privatised railway, and an injection of many billions of pounds in Government support to keep the trains running for key workers.
More than two years on, and passengers have been returning to the railways, although many commuters are still missing, preferring instead to stay at home or go by car.
What is now emerging is that the recovery in rail travel is being led through big increases in leisure travel across the network. Indeed, the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, which created Great British Railways, suggested that there should be a major effort to develop rail’s leisure market further, to help to attract new passengers to the railways.
There’s no mention of repurposing train carriages to cater for new types of leisure markets, such as more family-friendly areas, but the announcement hasn’t gone unnoticed by a new pressure group, the Campaign for Family-Friendly Trains. It is tapping into the latest trend for more rail-based leisure travel and is calling for improvements to make journeys for families, especially those with pushchairs, much more enjoyable and less stressful.
The campaign started after one of its founders got stuck in the vestibule of a long-distance train, and was forced to sit on the floor to remain close to his sleeping toddler in a pushchair. He then tweeted about his experience and found many others had been suffering similar nightmare journeys. They included Joe Thomas, now spokesman for the campaign.
A lawyer and dad living in east London, Thomas says: “My unfortunate experience was going to Chepstow, in Wales. Young children come with an awful lot of paraphernalia. You normally have bag upon bag upon bag! We were lugging all of this onto one of Great Western Railway’s new inter-city trains and there was absolutely nowhere to put the pram. The train was full of rugby fans heading for a Six Nations match, and I was just getting in everyone’s way.
“It just struck me as bonkers that earlier in the day, travelling on the busy Victoria Line in London, there was plenty of space for the pram. But there was no equivalent for our holiday trip down to the South West.”
Instead of tweeting about his journey, Thomas emailed GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood. That email resulted in a meeting with the company. Campaign members had done their research and came equipped with best-practice examples from around the world.
Thomas says: “They really got it, and the fact that going down to places like Cornwall was a really family-orientated trip. But they were realistic because the convoluted deal that procured their new trains meant that they didn’t specify them. That was done by the Department for Transport, which just went for maximum capacity. It was pre-COVID and the only thing that mattered was bums on seats.”
Although there was little that could be done overnight, GWR did seem interested in the campaign and the idea of helping to improve things for families travelling on their trains. Since then, Thomas and colleagues have had meetings and discussions with LNER, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, ScotRail, CrossCountry, the Rail Delivery Group, and even some train manufacturers.
The group effectively wants to see existing carriages repurposed, and it has a list of main requests - including dedicated spaces for unfolded prams on trains; an extension of seat reservations to include space for unfolded prams; clean and spacious toilets with toddler seats; an extension of passenger assistance to include families with young children; and level access between train, platform and station entrance.
In May, the group published a ‘scorecard’ designed to rate train operators from the perspective of passengers travelling with young children. It assessed 23 companies on the availability of dedicated space for unfolded pushchairs, step-free access, level boarding and assistance available for boarding the train, and the accessibility and quality of information available for families.
Only five companies - Transport for London, c2c, LNER, Merseyrail and Govia Thameslink Railway - scored above two out of eight points.
Thomas explains: “We wanted to lay down a marker and say: this is the situation as of 2022, what’s the situation going to be like in the future? The scorecards will ensure that at least there is a record of what things are like, and hopefully there will be a bit of friendly competition between train operators.”
The scorecard exercise, according to the campaign, appears to suggest that the majority of train operating companies are not taking the issue of family-friendly travel seriously.
However, a small number of companies - particularly TfL, Transport for Wales, Merseyrail and LNER - indicated that they were currently discussing the needs of families travelling with young children, and aiming to find solutions in the design of newer trains and through additional services.
So, why can’t carriages on trains be more family-friendly?
Some have suggested that the Department for Transport might be hampering the innovation process, by being over-prescriptive when it comes to the layout of carriages. There clearly is an issue related to the differing uses of rolling stock - trains that are suitable for families off-peak must also be suitable for commuters at the busiest times of the day.
A DfT spokesman said: “We do not stipulate the number of seats or the amount of standing that must be available in each carriage. The interior design and layout of trains is a matter for the train operators.”
However, the spokesman did admit that when it came to some of the newer rolling stock orders, DfT did get more involved: “DfT led the procurement of Thameslink Class 700 and InterCity Express Class 800/801 carriages, and stipulation in this instance is an exception given that it is taxpayers who pay for these trains. We must ensure that operators procure trains that deliver for both taxpayers and passengers alike.”
Rolling stock leasing companies would also make the point that trains are often cascaded down to other train operators, making standard seating configurations often preferable. But if that means it doesn’t work for all passengers, there’s a risk they will be alienated for a long time.
As Ian Wright, Head of Innovation and Partnerships at Transport Focus, puts it: “Rolling stock lasts for a long time, so you need to be careful what you’re baking in. It will be there for decades, unless you go for a major refit.”
However, family-friendly trains are something that have been introduced abroad. In many European countries, many long-distance services have dedicated family carriages, and some even have play areas. In Austria, trains feature family zones, which create a special travel experience for both parents and children.
ÖBB spokesman Bernhard Rieder says: “It was our intention to help families to travel easily. In the designated cars, there is extra space for strollers and buggies. The restroom has a child-friendly design and is equipped with a changing table. Before entering the family zone, there is a symbol showing that you are entering a customised zone for kids and families. We are constantly trying to improve the family zone to meet the travel requirements, so that a family has an even better experience.”
ÖBB also has a children’s mascot called Timi Taurus.
In Switzerland, SBB’s IC2000 InterCity trains, which have been running since the 1990s, have around 20 family carriages. And new orders of trains continue to arrive with these carriages as standard.
On double-decker trains, the lower deck of the carriage has a large luggage zone, which is also used early in the morning and at weekends by passengers heading out for trips with mountain bikes.
A spokesman for SBB says: “The family cars with playgrounds are very popular with children. If a train has such a carriage, this can be seen in the online timetable in the SBB Mobile app. Families with children can already wait in the appropriate sector at the station.”
Finland has had family carriages for the past 15 years, and there have even been marketing campaigns designed to show off how family friendly the trains are. European train operators are clearly making a trade-off between lost revenue and comfort and convenience for families.
VR Group Ltd runs the long-distance trains in Finland. Acting Director of Services Petri Martola says: “Families are coming, and they are eating on board. Of course, there are fewer seats in the family carriages, and we could have got more money if it was a normal carriage on some days. But on other days we couldn’t, so we see that’s better to have family-friendly services on those trains.
“So, we are not maximising income, we are thinking long-term that families will get used to travelling by train and you get good memories already when you are kids. It’s a long-term investment.”
Interestingly, a few years ago, Transport Focus looked at the concept as part of work with HS2 Ltd. Ian Wright says: “HS2, at the time, was looking at those kinds of options and passengers were saying that’s the sort of thing they want. To be honest, some of that demand comes from the families themselves and also those who aren’t travelling with families.”
Some form of segregation would certainly be welcomed by business travellers using the rail network off-peak. Wright adds: “Sometimes, even the parents themselves might want a separate carriage, particularly if they are embarrassed when their toddler is running around the train. You don’t want it completely segregated, but I think some would welcome having that option.”
So, are we heading in the same direction with play areas on trains? Probably not, but some operators are already thinking about what changes could be made to accommodate families with pushchairs and young children. LNER is in the midst of conducting research with passenger groups, including Joe Thomas and his Campaign for Family-Friendly Trains.
“One consideration is to take out seats and create spaces that work better for families, such as dedicated family areas on trains,” says LNER Head of Customer Experience Abu Siddeeq.
“We’ll be testing that theory as part of our research to understand exactly what families - and other customers - need from the railway, in order to feel as welcomed and comfortable as they can across the journey with us.”
Currently, LNER asks people to fold up pushchairs before they get on the train. Siddeeq says: “Sometimes, people assume the answer is to change the internal layout, and some of the solution may involve that. But it’s not just about creating a place to store pushchairs, it’s also about ensuring that families can be sat together comfortably.”
So, why not go down the route of flip-up seats, like on the London Underground and the new Overground metro-style layouts?
Siddeeq: “Short journeys are one thing, but when you have people travelling from (say) London to Edinburgh, I don’t think a flip-up seat would be satisfactory. I think you’d want a proper seat.”
Future interior layouts will be considered once the findings from the research have been processed. Staff have also been travelling on trains to witness issues for themselves, and they’ve been talking to existing passengers. LNER has also been speaking to families who don’t consider rail travel anymore - those who have had bad experiences or who just don’t want the stress of a long journey.
Siddeeq: “I think it’s important we listen to non-users of the railway just as much as anyone else, to understand what would attract them to use our services. There’s a tendency to only focus on enhancing the experience for the people who already choose to travel with us, and that is of course important, but we also need to factor into our thinking the people that don’t normally travel by rail, especially families.”
Siddeeq says that the company is currently considering taking out seats to create pushchair spaces.
“It’s one of a number of initiatives being considered and we are serious about improving things, as we have shown before. When the new Azuma train fleet came into service, it was swiftly recognised that more could be done to increase comfort for our long-distance customers, and as a result we took out some seats in favour of additional luggage racks. This shows that we are happy to sacrifice seats, if that is the solution, for a better experience.”
Luggage is also something that’s been the subject of much research. Transport Focus carried out surveys at key London stations and noted what people were travelling with. The vast majority had at least one form of luggage, even if it was a small piece similar to that carried onto an aircraft. Around 15% had a large suitcase, and a quarter of passengers had two or more pieces of luggage.
TF’s Ian Wright says: “It’s not surprising that there have been calls for more luggage space. Our findings also highlight the stress that passengers feel if they are not able to find a space for it. And in terms of security, people like to be able to see their luggage and make sure it’s safe.”
The position of the luggage area is becoming an important issue which once again could dictate the design of future carriage layouts. It’s interesting to note that 20 years ago, Virgin Trains introduced mid-carriage luggage racks when it brought in the new Pendolino tilting trains on the West Coast Main Line.
Some long-distance services are already evolving to cater for the changing times. Virgin’s successor, Avanti West Coast, has been refurbishing its Class 390 Pendolinos to (among other things) offer more Standard Class seats and additional luggage space. It’s part of a £117 million upgrade which has included the conversion of one First Class carriage on each of the 35 Pendolinos to provide more than 2,000 extra Standard Class seats. The refurbishment has also provided more power points.
Avanti has also launched a service called Standard Premium, which allows passengers to upgrade and travel in a First Class carriage. Although they don’t get the complimentary food and drink during the journey, they do get the extra space and comfort that comes with a First Class ticket.
These changes were already being planned prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, but are another clear example of how trains are already being repurposed to cater for the ever-changing passenger needs.
Philippa Cresswell, Executive Director for On Board Customer Experience at Avanti West Coast, says: “The idea was that we offer an alternative for those who didn’t want the all-inclusive First Class experience, but wanted the space and to be able to work. It’s proved to be extremely popular, not just at the weekends, but Monday to Friday as well.”
Many passengers were already buying cheap First Class tickets via smartphone apps such as Seatfrog and other available discounts.
Cresswell: “We do want to protect First Class, as it’s a key part of our three-classes strategy, but we also recognised a new market, even before COVID. But during the pandemic, it’s worked well, especially for those customers wanting the extra space. It’s more about introducing a new proposition and a new option for customers.”
Business travellers have welcomed the new product, particularly those whose employers won’t allow First Class travel, but are more comfortable with a lower-priced upgrade. Avanti also has the flexibility to expand or contract the offer throughout the week, according to demand.
But does a loss of seats equal loss of revenue? And is that holding back many companies from making more radical changes such as those seen abroad?
LNER’s Abu Siddeeq: “I think that’s a bit of a myth. In other industries, there is a very strong correlation between great customer experience and long-term revenue growth. We’re confident that rail has a bright future, but that can only be achieved if we deliver a brilliant experience that attracts new people to choose to travel by train over other modes of transport.”
However, as a result of a Government initiative, more radical changes could be on the way.
Last year, ministers launched a £9m competition to find cutting-edge ideas to transform the future of the railways. Organised by the DfT in partnership with Innovate UK, the ‘First of a Kind’ competition was focused on developing pioneering technology and exceptional ideas that can improve journeys for passengers and decarbonise the rail network.
One of the many projects to win funding responded to the rapidly changing landscape in rail post-COVID-19, and was aimed at bringing innovation to carriage interiors and offering benefits and reassurances to passengers, as well as bringing commercial opportunities to rolling stock leasing companies and operators.
The force behind the bid was design consultancy PriestmanGoode, which has already unveiled some of its ideas. The new ‘Proteus’ rail interior system is a collection of ideas that offer more flexibility, improved comfort, and design features that benefit both commuters and leisure travellers.
Spokesman Guy Genney says: “It’s not just about things that emerged from the pandemic, such as spacing and hygiene, but also other things that were really starting before the pandemic - including people bringing more bikes on board or people thinking about having different arrangements for the last mile of their journey.”
With support from Angel Trains and Chiltern Railways, PriestmanGoode’s designs have been based on the Class 165 trains operating out of London’s Marylebone station.
Genney: “Rather than doing something that wasn’t practical and could never be implemented, it was very much focused on an existing train set.”
The other benefit of using the ‘165s’ is that at some point soon, they are due to undergo a major refurbishment, which is an ideal time to introduce new layouts.
PriestmanGoode’s initial designs were unveiled at a special event at Marylebone earlier this year. It featured a mock-up demonstrator with new ideas for commuter travel, with more space for working on laptops and many more charging points.
The designs also introduced the idea of flip-up seats closest to the aisles, allowing additional space on off-peak trains for luggage or for a parent with a child in a buggy.
Genney explains: “The aisles on the ‘165s’ are really quite narrow. You tend to find cases, bikes and buggies in the vestibule, and you get dad stood with the buggy while mum and the other kids go and sit somewhere further down the carriage. We were trying to make sure that it was possible to travel together.”
The designs also created more space close to the doorways to allow for more standing on busy trains, but also space for a bicycle during other times.
“It was really well received. People appreciated the extra space and the airiness. They thought the legroom was better,” says Genney.
The next stage of the project is to process the feedback from passengers and move towards testing the designs on an operational train. As a company, PriestmanGoode will ultimately be looking for commercial opportunities from its research and design work.
For Angel Trains, one of the project sponsors, it was about identifying what could be done to interiors to make them more attractive and to help boost passenger numbers post-COVID.
James Brown, Project Sponsor at Angel Trains, says: “Even prior to the pandemic, there were a number of trends happening in the industry. Everyone was talking about the reduction in passenger numbers on Mondays and Fridays post-pandemic, but the Friday drop in commuter traffic was already happening.”
Other trends, such as the ageing of the population, more demand for cycle storage on trains, and calls for more comfort to replace the so-called ‘ironing board’ seating, were all coming together to indicate that some reimagining of train interiors would be a good idea. Even before the recent design competition, Angel Trains had been involved in conceptual work following discussions with some of its operators.
The First of a Kind competition was an ideal opportunity to progress work to market-ready solutions. Prior to the pandemic, the name of the game was to get as many people onto a train as possible. Are we now moving away from that mentality?
Brown: “I think revenue is always king. Money talks and you will always want to get as many people on as possible. However, many people view revenue as a direct trade-off with comfort - either pack them in or give them all comfortable seats.
“But that’s not our view, and that’s what we’ve tried to get away from in the project. If, post-COVID, you no longer see large peak loads in the busiest rush hour, or if that peak load only happens three days a week, the balance is optimising your interior for that peak-load capacity versus the off-peak changes.”
Angel also maintains that many carriage configurations, such as 3+2 seating, were already out of date as a result of the development of more metro-style services.
Brown: “On many of our existing fleets with 3+2 seats, I think there are opportunities to get the best of both worlds.”
As for those play areas on overseas long-distance trains, Brown suggests that one of the main restrictions to making it happen here is the difference in the structural loading gauge between Europe and the UK.
“Some of their vehicles are around a foot wider, which gives them so many more options,” he says.
Something that’s already in service and going down well in Scotland is ScotRail’s much-publicised bike carriages. They’ve been introduced on the new ScotRail Highland Explorer service operating along the West Highland Line from Glasgow to Oban. In all, five Class 153 carriages have been completely redesigned to cater for ordinary bikes and even some tandems. The carriages also feature e-bike charging sockets - a first in the UK.
It’s hoped that the new service will encourage people to leave the car at home and instead use the train to travel into the countryside.
“The initiative was driven and funded by Transport Scotland’s active travel campaign. They put forward the proposal and it coincided with the ‘153s’ coming off lease,” says ScotRail Senior Fleet Engineer Tom Smith.
“Right from the start of the project, the public has been really positive about the changes. They recognised that we are doing something a bit different and unusual. It’s pioneering in a way, because in getting these carriages done we are fixing a real issue, particularly in the summer. It’s been a very welcome addition.”
One of the benefits of the project was that Smith and his colleagues effectively had a blank sheet of paper to work with. He explains: “The first question we asked was how many bikes do you want on a train? We had quite an open discussion between cyclists and passengers who use the trains for tourism.”
The eventual design resulted in 20 spaces for bikes and 24 seats in the new carriages.
“A lot of cyclists said they wanted to sit in the same carriage as their bike. Some cyclists can spend thousands of pounds on their bike, so having a line of sight to them was very important.”
Having provided the space for specific travellers, it’s natural for a train operator to want to shout about it, perhaps with new branding signposting where it is on the train.
But transport branding expert Ray Stenning, of Best Impressions, has worked with a variety of rail and bus companies, and has a vast knowledge of what works - and (more importantly) what doesn’t.
He suggests that too much branding can be confusing: “Operators need to be careful that they don’t create a brand within a brand within a brand, which could very easily and very likely lead to misunderstanding, misremembering and confusion.”
Stenning says it’s more to do with recognition and giving confidence to a customer to find the bit of the train they’re looking for. So, how does a train operator decide how to make a new section of their train more visible?
“How that’s done can’t be decided by a formula in advance. It would have to stand apart from ‘ordinary’ bits of the train, yet not jar with the visual identity that’s already established,” says Stenning.
He maintains that there are no textbooks to say how it should be done: “It’s not a rigid in-advance superimposition - it’s a more fluid, sensitive process. It would be foolish to state exactly how you would signpost these areas before you have all the factors in your hands, and you can use them intelligently to find the best and right solution.”
Away from passenger trains, another major repurposing involves the movement of parcels by changing the interior of the Class 319 rolling stock. Last year, Orion (part of the Rail Operations Group) and Network Rail showed how the concept works at an event at Euston station in London.
The former passenger trains are being converted to take goods directly into city centre stations. As well as online retail, the flexible freight operation could transport other light goods needed by businesses in super-fast time. Bicycle or van couriers would then take the parcels for final delivery.
The trains can travel up to 100mph, twice the average speed of road traffic. As well as faster delivery times, the converted trains are cleaner than air and road haulage, and they can access city centres (unlike larger-scale rail freight or air).
The Class 319 conversion involves the removal of all passenger-related equipment, including seats, overhead luggage racks, heating systems and draft partitions. The conversion also requires the repositioning of other underfloor electrical and pneumatic equipment.
Using converted, electrically-powered passenger trains, Orion is not only able to demonstrate the environmental benefits of rail-borne logistics operations, but also its sustainability credentials by repurposing what would otherwise have been a redundant train fleet destined for the scrapyard.
Speaking last year, then Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “It is really positive to see companies exploring innovative methods like this to transport rail freight. Repurposing former passenger trains will allow light goods to travel to consumers in a faster and greener way, helping to decarbonise our railway, reduce congestion on our roads and support growth in the rail freight market.”
The first regular services are due to start running this year.
Across the railway, so much seems to be happening. And with the coming of Great British Railways and greater levels of devolution, things could be changing. Angel Trains’ work with PriestmanGoode and the First of a Kind competition has drawn ministerial interest.
Angel Trains’ James Brown says: “The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail does specify a number of stated aims around improving the passenger environment and making it more flexible. Hopefully, they will be open to more options, and certainly on this project the amount of engagement we got from the DfT and Grant Shapps visiting and exploring the project suggests that they might be open to some different proposals.”
Whatever happens, Ian Wright of Transport Focus maintains that passengers must be consulted: “We are in a period of flux, so we don’t absolutely know where we are going to end up. But wherever we do, we should involve passengers in some of those decisions.”
Many operators are already focused on the long-term customer experience. LNER’s Abu Siddeeq says: “If you look after people today and they have a better experience, they are much more likely to be loyal to the railway and to take more journeys with us, therefore making a strong revenue case for doing more to improve the experience.
“We need to learn from other industries on how they increase brand trust and confidence, by listening to their customers and investing in and improving their customers’ experiences.”
The key is creativity and innovation going forward, and the hope is that the creation of Great British Railways doesn’t stop those things from happening.
If we are to decarbonise transport and get people (particularly families) out of their cars, a more attractive, accessible and comfortable railway is crucial in making it happen. It’s time to let the train take the strain again, but we must also ensure that passengers can relax while they’re travelling.
