UK: Earlier boarding of Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway services from London Euston station is being trialled. This is part of an effort to improve the passenger experience by reducing the rush from the concourse which can occur when the departure platform is announced only shortly before departure.
From October 28, around 40% of Avanti West Coast services will be open for boarding 20 min before departure, increasing to around 55% in the run-up to Christmas.
Since October 21 passengers for London Northwestern Railway’s Birmingham services have been able to access the platform as soon as the preceding service has departed.
Network Rail has also convened an industry summit to update passenger groups and the government on the five-point improvement plan for the station. This was announced after widespread public criticism of crowding at Euston led to Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh calling for action.
Participants included representatives from the Department for Transport, Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway, Transport for London, the Office of Rail & Road, British Transport Police, London TravelWatch and Transport Focus.
Network Rail said the future of the station’s large advertising board remains under review, including the potential to used it passenger information. Other actions being explored include making all the information desks more visible together in one place, the further expansion of concourse waiting space and a full review of all station signage.
‘We know the travelling experience for our customers at Euston has fallen below the standards they should rightly expect’, said Cheryl Fox, Interim Customer Experience Director at Avanti West Coast. ‘We will continue to work alongside Network Rail as well as our partners on this trial and other measures, with the aim of making journeys at the station more comfortable for those travelling on the West Coast Main Line.’
Jonny Wiseman, Customer Experience Director for London Northwestern Railway, said ’we’ll be monitoring the impact of these changes closely as we continue working with partners to make the process of boarding trains smoother across the station’.
