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I’ve long taken a pro-London Underground stance and regularly defend it against TFL bashers. My view is that we would all benefit from remembering that our metro system, parts of which date back to the 19th century, carries more than one billion passengers each year – millions more than it was ever designed to. The fact that it doesn’t buckle under this strain completely and slowly run to a whimpering halt each and every day in protest, is a testament to the efforts put in to keep it going.
The only thing that, for me, lets it down is its hit and miss customer service. A few years back all it seemed that TFL had trained its train drivers to keep passengers informed at all times on the correct understanding that it is infuriating for tetchy commuters to be stuck in a motionless carriage for no apparent reason, without explanation or timeframes. These days, more often than not you’re updated every 30 seconds – it may interrupt your reading, but at least you don’t need to panic that you’re stuck there for the rest of the day.
But what is infuriating is the lack of consistency to what information is relayed. It is a constant wonder to me that so many customer facing London Underground staff don’t seem to think that customer satisfaction is part of their job description.
TFL has certainly done much to up its profile in recent years, but it has two important next steps to take:
- Ensure all staff automatically think about providing constructive information when announcing a tube fail
- Ensure the less-than-friendly or helpful staff to remember that they are customer facing and have a duty to be helpful and constructive
What frustrates me – and no doubt many others – is that it surely can’t be that hard to provide constructive communication. How hard is it to let announce what time the next tube is due; what those alternative routes might be when we need to “find alternative routes”, or that the train on the opposite platform is not subject to delays and it might be a good idea to hot foot it over there if you don’t want to be stuck in Hammersmith for the next five hours?
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had amazingly positive experiences on the underground with staff going beyond the call of duty. Polite and helpful staff (manning the Bakerloo Line at London Paddington at 6:30am on a Saturday morning, to be specific) telling me exactly what bus I need to get with step by step instructions on how to find the right stop, thereby ensuring I didn’t miss my one-an-hour train; or train drivers letting me ride in the front with them when I’ve explained that my only other fellow travellers are a group of drunk aggressive leery men (whether this is allowed by TFL I don’t know, but I was certainly very grateful).
A smile is often rewarded with a smile – something that all customer service orientated industries ought to remember. If treated with a smile and a handy hint, commuters will (one hopes) be more positive – thus making the working day of the TFL staff that much better.
* And, I know I shouldn’t (but I will anyway): how could I miss the opportunity to promote Dr Suman Biswas and Dr Adam Kay’s cracking yet rude version of London Underground? [Parental warning: contains explicit lyrics.]
