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Thursday 6 May 2004

NETWORK RAIL RECOGNISES EXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ITS STATIONS

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On Thursday 29 April, at the Regents College London, Network Rail held its second annual staff recognition ‘First Awards’, to celebrate outstanding achievements in customer service at its 17 managed stations – and Liverpool Lime Street was high on the list of honours. Birmingham New Street took the overall honours with the prestigious ‘First Station’ award, recognising the highest overall application of customer service principles, ranging from cleanliness to customer service culture.  A further six awards acknowledged the achievements of Network Rail employees and business partners, all having demonstrated exceptional levels of customer service. ·        First Champion was awarded to Phil Harrison, Duty Station Manager at Liverpool Lime Street. Network Rail only took over the day to day management of the station in November 2003 and the judges commended Mr Harrison for ‘his tenacious hard work in raising the quality of customer service delivery ….. and creating a real customer focus from day one.’ ·        Mohammed Jellall, Initial Cleaning Services at London Victoria, won the First Service Partner award for his willingness to help others and improve customer care, no matter what his workload. ·        First Manager went to Alison Clarke, Station Manager at London Victoria, for the way her team have delivered service beyond expectations and dealt quickly, professionally and efficiently with any difficulties that have arisen. - more - First Awards - 2 ·        First Teamwork award was given to Peter Downs, Network Rail; Jeff Court, Infotec; Bob Crosby, TEW Engineering; John Hazel, Fone Alarms and John Noakes, Atos Origin, for their work on the new Customer Information System at London Euston. ·        Ravi Gor at London Euston won First Achievement for his exemplary handling of a group of delayed customers. ·        The First Service Hero was named as Jim Morrison, team leader at Glasgow Central, for his dependability, loyalty and willingness to help others. Awards were presented by a variety of industry leaders including Ian Johnston, Chief Constable of the British Transport Police, Stewart Francis, Chairman of the Rail Passengers Council and Iain Coucher, Deputy Chief Executive, Network Rail. The First Awards form part of a larger initiative to ensure customers consistently receive high quality service when using our stations.  In addition to the annual awards, the customer service programme, ‘Customer First’, includes training, workshops and the opportunity for employees to work towards formal qualifications. Deborah Richards, Director Railway Estates, said: “These awards recognise the enthusiasm, dedication and hard work of our people who continually strive to deliver first-class customer service across our stations.  Excellence in customer service is a key objective for Network Rail and congratulations deservedly go out to all winners and nominees.”