Last Friday afternoon, some livestock wandered on to the railway track between Stoke and Stockport, the line used for most Virgin Trains between London Euston and Manchester.
The animals halted services, wrecking the journey plans of thousands of passengers. But staff at Sir Richard Branson’s train operator were kept informed about replacement buses and rerouted trains through a new internal app called Back on Track.
Virgin Trains claims its disruption software is “a global first for a travel company” and will change the rail industry.
It is also rolling out a service to provide passengers with real-time updates.
Virgin Trains currently runs the West Coast mainline franchise, connecting London Euston with Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Scotland.
When trains are cancelled or heavily delayed, many travellers complain that they are not kept informed about what has happened, what is being done about it and what their options are.
The principle of Back on Track is to connect backroom staff and online data with frontline teams.
They are then equipped to provide up-to-the-minute information, offer alternative routes and provide information on ticket acceptance – when other train operators agree to accept Virgin Trains passengers on alternative services.
Staff can also make arrangements for passengers requiring special care.
The passenger portal, available on board trains, is called Track ‘n’ Travel. It is fuelled by the same data. Virgin Trains says: “This now means there is one source of truth, for staff and customers alike.”
John Sullivan, the train operator’s chief information officer, said: “Our main problem at times of disruption is simple – thousands of Virgin Trains colleagues trying to find out the latest information to communicate to as many as 100,000 customers.
“Our Control Centre can get a thousand calls a day from staff across the network during disruption. If the information they need is instantly available on their mobile, there’s no need to make that call, freeing up control to deal with the root cause.”
The firm estimates it could reduce times to resolve incidents by at least 20 minutes.
Virgin Trains wants the systems to become standard across the UK rail industry.
Jason Webb, customer information director at the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said: “The technical innovations developed by Virgin will help to drive forward further improvement across the industry and boost trust in the information people are provided.”
Virgin Trains has been told its franchise will not be extended beyond early 2020, because its bid was deemed “non-compliant” by the Department for Transport.
Chris Grayling’s department wanted guarantees on pension provisions which the train operator was unwilling to provide.
A Virgin Trains spokesperson said: “We are still operating, and it is business as usual. Innovation is part of that and we have no plans to slow down in light of the DfT’s decision.”
