Greater Anglia is now training up office staff to help its customers when stations are busy due to big events or due to disruption.
The support staff, which are known as Customer Action Teams – or CATs – make a beeline for their nearest station when they are needed to provide extra help and support to customers and station colleagues.
As new recruits have joined the company and signed up to join the voluntary scheme, Greater Anglia is now running a series of additional training courses in order to ensure the CATs have the necessary skills for the role and so that they provide high levels of customer service.
During big events or disruption, crowded platforms and the high demand for advice and information can mean that it is much harder to talk to a member of staff, making a situation that is difficult into a situation that is worse for passengers who can feel there is no-one available to help them or tell them what is actually happening.
In order to tackle this, staff from across the business – including Managing Director, Jamie Burles – are ready and waiting between 07:00 and 19:00 on Mondays to Friday weekly in order to respond to calls for help and to assist customers and support station staff when platforms become very busy.
The CATs provide additional support by helping with customer communication, providing information about Delay Repay, handing out bottled water, helping to co-ordinate the bus replacement service, organising taxis and manning information desks, freeing up platform and station staff in order to answer passenger queries and offer assistance to them.
They are easy to spot thanks to their bright pink Hi-Vis vests they wear that carry the slogan ‘How can I help?'.
CATs are made up of back-office support staff and managers who have volunteered to take part.
They provide support at Greater Anglia's busiest stations – Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, London Liverpool Street, Norwich, Shenfield, Stratford, Tottenham Hale and Witham.
The initiative has been in place for three years now.
What did the officials say?
Greater Anglia's Managing Director, Jamie Burles, said:
“When stations are busy, having extra people available to help can make all the difference and ensure that passengers are receiving additional help and support at the times when they most need it.
“It's all part of our commitment to continually improving customers' experience when they travel with us.”
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