With the Government's restrictions now lifted, people are now making their way back to the workplace and with this in mind, the rail industry has launched their national commuter rewards website in a bid to give rail passengers the most from their ‘me-time' whilst travelling by train and much-anticipated catch-ups with friends and workmates after work.
A poll carried out by the rail industry has revealed that 48% of people working from home have felt the impact of ‘work from home fatigue' which 33% found led to less motivation, 23% found it hard to focus and 25% reported poorer sleep.
48% of people working from home through the work from home restrictions revealed that they wish to return to their workplace up to 2 to 3 times each week after the restrictions were lifted.
Last week saw the work from home restrictions removed and rail operators have already seen peak journeys increase by 5%. The monitoring of timetables over the coming weeks will see train companies increase the number of trains running to reflect demand and to support passengers to use rail services with confidence.
Working together, train companies have created several incentives to aid commuters as they make their journey back to the workplace.
In June 2021 the industry worked alongside the Department for Transport in order to create the Flexi Season ticket which gives commuters a minimum of 20% discount compared to an equivalent Monthly Season ticket but offers the freedom and flexibility to split their time between home and the workplace when travelling at peak times, 2 to 3 times each week. Rail passengers can also now change a booked journey with no fee up to 6pm the day before travel, using the Book with Confidence initiative.
With 34% of commuters revealing that learning a new skill, and 27% escaping with a good book and a further 27% saying having time to meditate would be beneficial to their self-improvement. The rail industry has listened and has teamed up with FutureLearn, The Mindfulness App, audiobooks and more in order to offer passengers free and discounted perks that will enable them to get the most of their ‘me time' whilst commuting.
Further perks will see free and discounted food and hot drinks with on-the-go food brands like Pure and Greggs.
Jacqueline Starr, CEO at Rail Delivery Group, said:
“Taking the train is more than just a journey – it benefits the environment, economy and local businesses. To encourage and support commuter's as they return, the rail industry has launched a new commuter rewards website offering free hot drinks, mindfulness, course upgrades, music streaming, audiobooks and more to help enhance customers on-train and at destination experiences.”
Spencer Craig, CEO at Pure, said:
“Like most businesses that rely on the commuter market we saw our customer base drop by over 50% due to the work from home restrictions coming in to force, and rail commuters no longer coming into the city. We're delighted to be working with the rail industry on their commuter rewards platform and look forward to welcoming customers back and providing them with delicious, nutritious meals and drinks on the go.”
In order to support people to travel and book with confidence, the rail industry will provide improved journey information about busier trains and alternate routes, increases in cleaning plus ensuring carriages are well ventilated and supporting passengers to change a booked journey free of fees should their plans change.
To get on board with the free and discounted perks, rail commuters can sign up at:
http://nationalrail.co.uk/commuter where they can select the rewards they want.
This offer is not worth a light and , with best will in the world, is no incentive to attract people back onto the railway.
If you go through the computer rigmarole of signing up, you will find that you will be signing up to all sorts of (so called services) which will result in you receiving loads of emails from all sorts of companies trying to sell you things and sign you up for stuff.
In fact, this (so called) incentive back to rail is nothing but a con.