{"id":155346,"date":"2024-12-06T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?guid=f920ae67145a2dc8864a810c54c6c077"},"modified":"2024-12-06T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T10:00:00","slug":"regulator-accepts-northerns-new-plan-to-improve-passenger-assistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=155346","title":{"rendered":"Regulator accepts Northern\u2019s new plan to improve passenger assistance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden\">Regulator accepts Northern\u2019s new plan to improve passenger assistance <\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden\"><time datetime=\"2024-12-06T10:00:00+00:00\" title=\"Friday, 6 December, 2024 - 10:00\" class=\"datetime\">Fri, 06\/12\/2024 &#8211; 10:00<\/time><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"orr-published-date\">6 December 2024<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-standfirst field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item\">Following ORR calling out its poor performance on reliability of its assistance to disabled passengers, train operator Northern has now provided the rail regulator with an acceptable action plan that sets out how they will improve passenger assistance.<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-cover-image field--type-entity-reference field--label-visually_hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__label visually-hidden\">Cover Image<\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\">\n<article class=\"media media--type-image media--view-mode-demo-cover\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-visually_hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__label visually-hidden\">Image<\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\">  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.orr.gov.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/demo_cover\/public\/2024-04\/mobility-scooter-user-news-cover.jpg?itok=6RMywNMV\" width=\"1020\" height=\"575\" alt=\"Mobility scooter user and other passengers at a railway station\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"image-style-demo-cover\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-visually_hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__label visually-hidden\">Body<\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-components field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-visually_hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__label visually-hidden\">Components<\/div>\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item\">\n<div class=\"paragraph paragraph--type--text paragraph--view-mode--default\">\n<div class=\"clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<p>Northern has identified key areas for improvements over the next year, which include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ensuring passenger assistance policy and processes are consistent across the network<\/li>\n<li>Staff having the right capabilities to deliver the service and the ability to respond to challenges during times of disruption<\/li>\n<li>Making sure technologies, used to support passenger assistance, are utilised to provide consistency in service delivery<\/li>\n<li>Easier access to information needed by customers and staff<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Northern has committed to progress work in the next three months, to &nbsp;review the staffing model for assistance at large stations; including Leeds Station, and provide additional staff training on communication between boarding and alighting stations; &nbsp;introduce &nbsp;a dedicated team to remotely support passengers who require assistance, using tools such as WhatsApp; and trialing a new process to allow passengers travelling from unstaffed stations who have not pre-booked, to alert conductors to their assistance needs.<\/p>\n<p>ORR requested the plan from Northern in September and held a senior roundtable in October which enabled constructive engagement with the company as they developed their plan. The roundtable involved representatives from the Rail North Partnership, the Department for Transport, Transport for the North and the Northern User Accessibility Group.<\/p>\n<p>Northern will now report regularly to ORR about how it is progressing with its plan, starting from December 2024. ORR will carry out a full review of the progress made at the end of January 2025 and again at the end of April.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie Tobyn, ORR director of strategy, policy and reform, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\">\n<div class=\"styling-options--alignment--right pull-quote-size--big paragraph paragraph--type--pull-quote paragraph--view-mode--default\">\n<div class=\"pull-quote-container\">\n<div class=\"pull-quote-text\">\n<div class=\"clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<p>After recent constructive discussions with Northern, we welcome its plan which recognises where it can improve upon its assistance reliability.<\/p>\n<p>The onus is now on the operator to fulfil what it has set out to achieve. We will monitor its progress over the coming months.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\">\n<div class=\"paragraph paragraph--type--text paragraph--view-mode--default\">\n<div class=\"clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<h2>Notes to editors<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.orr.gov.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-12\/2024-12-05-enabling-disabled-passengers-to-travel-with-confidence.pdf\" data-entity-type=\"media\" data-entity-uuid=\"01e7a89c-c3e2-4f2d-914f-6bd1ec5085e0\" data-entity-substitution=\"media\">Letter to Northern<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.orr.gov.uk\/search-news\/orr-calls-action-after-concerns-about-reliability-northern-trains-help-disabled\">ORR calls for action after concerns about reliability of Northern Trains\u2019 help for disabled passengers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.orr.gov.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-07\/2023-2024-passenger-assist-report-mel-research.pdf\">Experiences of Passenger Assist \u2013 2023-24<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\">\n<div class=\"paragraph paragraph--type--related-documents paragraph--view-mode--default\">\n<div class=\"field__label\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-title field--type-string field--label-hidden page__related page__related--documents field__item\">\n<h2>Downloads<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-related-document field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden page__related page__related--documents field__items doc__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item single-document\">\n<article class=\"file-type--pdf media media--type-document media--view-mode-related-item\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-name field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<div class=\"related-document-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.orr.gov.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-12\/2024-12-05-enabling-disabled-passengers-to-travel-with-confidence.pdf\"  class=\"media-link\" title=\"Acceptance of Northern Trains improvement plan: enabling disabled passengers to travel with confidence by delivering assistance reliably (pdf 161.51 KB)\" aria-label=\"Acceptance of Northern Trains improvement plan: enabling disabled passengers to travel with confidence by delivering assistance reliably\">Acceptance of Northern Trains improvement plan: enabling disabled passengers to travel with confidence by delivering assistance reliably (pdf 161.51 KB)<\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"orr-published-date\">Published 6 December 2024<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-media-document field--type-file field--label-visually_hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__label visually-hidden\">Document<\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\">\n<div class=\"js-form-item form-item js-form-type-item form-type-item js-form-item- form-item- form-no-label\">\n        PDF 161.51 KB\n        <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"more-info-item\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.orr.gov.uk\/media\/26417\" class=\"more-info-link media-link\" title=\"More info\" aria-label=\"More info on Acceptance of Northern Trains improvement plan: enabling disabled passengers to travel with confidence by delivering assistance reliably\">More info<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"download-item\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.orr.gov.uk\/media\/26417\/download\" class=\"download-link media-link media-download-link\" title=\"Download\" aria-label=\"Download Acceptance of Northern Trains improvement plan: enabling disabled passengers to travel with confidence by delivering assistance reliably\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"button-contain\">\n          <button class=\"document-related__btn\" aria-label=\"show more documents\">Show more<\/button>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-related-links field--type-link field--label-above page__related page__related--links\">\n<div class=\"field__label\">Related links<\/div>\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.orr.gov.uk\/monitoring-regulation\/rail\/passengers\/passenger-assistance\/atp\">Accessible Travel Policy (ATP)<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Regulator accepts Northern\u2019s new plan to improve passenger assistance<br \/>\nFri, 06\/12\/2024 &#8211; 10:00<\/p>\n<p>6 December 2024<\/p>\n<p>            Following ORR calling out its poor performance on reliability of its assistance to disabled passengers, train operator Northern&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=155346"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156796,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155346\/revisions\/156796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=155346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=155346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=155346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}