digital glasgow day 1 session 1 information on the move: scotrail

@ScotRail

Information on the move

Did you know…..• 2300 number of services each day

– Represents 95% of services within Scotland

• Caledonian Sleeper– Longest passenger service in UK

• 346 stations across the network from Thurso to Dumfries

• 4500 staff members keeping the business moving– +25% since start of franchise in 2004

• In excess of 81million passenger journeys take place every year.

• A third of which are daily commuters who travel at peak times.

• A third routine leisure– High volume, small journeys

• Website – 10.5m visits / 6.1m customers

Digital Information to our customers

AppMobile SiteWebsite Social MediaJourneyCheck

From using Digital channels to support customer service

Through the transition into beinga Social business

What do customers think?

The Challenge….Water• Severe weather affects the

infrastructure we use.• Keeping customers up to date

and on the move during times of disruption.

• We aim to provide exemplary customer service

• Communication is key to avoiding confusion

• Customers can self serve information – giving them the power

The Challenge…Snow

We’re ready…are you?

• A service that provides customers with a text alert service update.– Push/Pull function

• Free of charge• Information direct from our control office

– Information integrity and accuracy

• 35K users of service to date (compared to 15k users)

www.scotrail.co.uk• Rainbow Boards that expand to show specific route

problems • Severe disruption highlighted

– Traffic light / LUL

• Service update panels for text heavy changes to service

• Low bandwidth page at times of extreme traffic• Up to 6 / 10 times usual traffic during disruptions

m.scotrail.co.uk

• Compliments the main site– 36% of all web traffic

• Shows next 3 train services– Journey Planning

• Prominent display of JourneyCheck• Points customers to download the

free app– Cross sell additional service channel

Txt “ScotRail” to 86688• Free App• Incorporates

– Ticket purchase– Real time service info– Journey planning– Platform numbers

• 114K downloads to date (compared to 28k)• Multi-platform development (including

Windows phone)

“One of my most used apps when running for the train. Now updated to go along with android 4.0. Well done ScotRail” “Thanks ScotRail, this is much better than the text notifications, a much needed app for any commuter, especially in winter! “

Social Media • Twitter

– Over 21K followers (compared to 7.7k)

– Success due to dedicated team feeding information and answering questions.

– Mainly a Customer Service focus gaining approval

– Has proved invaluable as a customer comms channel

• Facebook– Over 14k likes (compared to 1.3k)

– A dedicated tab for Travel information with Rainbow Boards

– A dedicated tab for Customer Service channels (email, forms, twitter)

Twitter GrowthTwitter growth

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Tweets sent

• Increased usage on 8th December due to high winds.

• Disruption on 3rd January meant customers needed up-to-date information

“#scotrail twitter is still the most reliable and helpful source of #scotrail info”“@ScotRail awesome twitter action...” “very speedy response. Impressive.”

“On the Ground”

• Blackberries to 800 staff– Real Time Operations– Bus Timetables– Camera

So what!

What have we learned?• Digital is an important channel

across all demographics.• Ensure the right level of resourcing

– or face the reputational damage

• With the right strategy – you can change sentiment

• Opportunity to re-educate customers on the reality

• Improved staff confidence

Future Digital Developments

• New Web booking engine – Improved user experience – CRM capabilities – Greater functional flexibility

• Smartcard – improved experience through – Ease of use– Convenience– Durability– Value

Thank You

Graeme Macfarlan

Marketing Manager

ScotRail

graeme.macfarlan@firstgroup.com