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Weekend Albury
services –
Passenger consultation
Tactical activation plan
Presented by V/Line Customer Experience team
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P a g e |
ii
1. Purpose
3
2. Required actions from Executive
3
3. Activation matrix
3
4. Surveying schedule
4
5. Communications copy
4
Survey content
4
Booking confirmation copy
5
eDM copy (sent to subscribed passengers and ARG members)
5
QR code card copy
6
Questions and answers
6
6. Budget
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7. Appendix I – Strategic plan
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Purpose
This document sets out the tactical steps V/Line will take to deliver passenger consultation
for weekend Albury services as per the strategic plan in Appendix I.
Required actions from Executive
• Approve tactical plan
• Approve budget spend and advise on budget to allocate funds
Activation matrix
Task
Due date
Team responsible
Design and print “Have your
12/7
CX
say” cards (including QR
code creation)
Order in passenger treats
12/7
CX
Seek DTP/MO approval of
11/7
CA
survey content and other
comms
Build digital survey (using
10/7
Digital and Ticketing
Microsoft forms)
Source and test iPads
12/7
CX/Digital and Ticketing
Call for volunteers, booking
12/7
CX
of Hoban Staff, and
rostering
Face-to-face consultation
13/7
CA
with BRAG
eDM sent to passengers
14/7
Digital and
and ARG
Ticketing/Accessibility
Message loaded into
14/7
Digital and Ticketing
booking confirmation
Onboard consultation
15/7 and 16/7
CX
Voice of Employee survey –
14/7
Customer Relations
adjust survey for staff and
distribute to frontline staff
Email to staff to make them
14/7
CX
aware of onboard
consultation
Post consultation V/News
From 24/7
CA
story
Consultation data analysis
19/7
Performance and Customer
and presentation
Insights/CX
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Surveying schedule
Group size: 4 per day (at least one, preferably more V/Line staff members, remaining staff
can be filled by Hoban staff).
Clothing: purple vests (collected from SCS Pod A Mezzanine prior to shift), comfortable
closed toed shoes, clothing to withstand cold temperatures on platforms between services.
Materials: “Have your say” cards, Springhill farms treats, iPads to enable those without
devices to complete survey (collected from SCS Pod A Mezzanine prior to shift).
Occurrence: each Saturday and Sunday morning for two weeks (this would provide access
to between 1500 and 2000 passengers).
Schedule (Saturday and Sunday):
6:30am – meet at SCS Pod A Mezzanine
6:45am – collect materials/vests, check that iPads are working
7:00am – board 7:07am train from SCS to Albury, two staff in each three-carriage set and
store excess materials in conductor’s cabins.
7:07am – train departs, commence speaking to passengers, handing out treats and
encouraging them to complete the survey.
8:15am – wrap up passenger engagement, collect excess materials.
8:24am – depart train at Seymour
8:25-8:55am – break
9:00am – board 9:02am train from Seymour to SCS (Service originates in Albury), two staff
in each three-carriage set and store excess materials in conductor’s cabins.
9:02am – train departs, commence speaking to passengers, handing out treats and
encouraging them to complete the survey.
10:20am– wrap up passenger engagement, collect excess materials.
10:27am – train arrives SCS, Hoban staff dismissed, V/Line staff return vests and materials
to pod and charge iPads for staff.
Communications copy
Survey content
Introduction
V/Line has been exploring options for improving passenger journeys on the Albury Line,
particularly on weekend services which are proving to be extremely popular.
We have introduced an additional Saturday and Sunday service in July and August, and are
currently reviewing our reservations policies.
We would like to hear from you to understand if you are supportive of a proposal to make
changes to the current arrangement and will use this feedback to help inform our decision-
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making.
Proposed initiative – Full reservation of busy services
If this proposal were implemented, all seats on busy Albury Line services – including
all weekend services – would be reserved, with no unreserved seating available.
This compares with the current offering, where seating on two carriages are reserved
and seating on the remaining carriages are allocated for passengers with unreserved
tickets.
Under this proposal, where all seats are booked, passengers would have the option
of purchasing an unreserved ticket which may require them to stand for all or part of
their journey.
Alternatively, passengers may also have the option of travelling on a coach where
one is available.
This would allow passengers who book in advance to have a seat for their journey,
while passengers looking to ‘turn up and travel’ on the day may need to stand if the
service was fully booked or travel on a standby coach.
<response options >
I support the implementation of reservation only services at busy times,
including weekends.
I don’t support fully reserved services and would prefer the current
arrangement where services run with a combination of reserved and
unreserved seating
I neither support nor don’t support this initiative
Additional comments <free text>
Booking confirmation copy
Have your say on how we can create a more comfortable experience for Albury Line
passengers by filling out our passenger experience survey <h/Link>.
eDM copy (sent to subscribed passengers and ARG members)
Dear V/Line customer/Accessibility Reference Group member
Following the introduction of the regional fare cap earlier this year, weekend services on the
Albury Line have become increasingly popular.
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V/Line is investigating a number of ways to create a more comfortable experience for Albury
Line passengers.
We are currently running two special services each weekend through winter, but we would
also like to hear from you on another initiative we are investigating to understand how it
would affect your experience.
Your voice matters, so we encourage you to have your say by filling out our passenger
experience survey <h/Link>. The survey will be open until Wednesday 19 July.
Thank you for your contribution to help us connect Victorians through safe, reliable and
accessible public transport.
The V/Line team
QR code card copy
<h/L> Your voice matters
<body> Scan the QR code to have your say on Albury weekend services
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Budget
“Your voice matters” business card print – Approx. $500
Hoban staff - $240 per staff member for Saturday shifts, $320 per staff member for Sunday
shifts ($2300 total assuming two Hoban staff required each shift for four shifts).
Overtime shifts for V/Line staff: approx. $400 per staff member ($3200 total assuming two
overtime staff per shift for four shifts)
Note: Passenger giveaways can be sourced from a stockpile scheduled for use for other
engagement activities, this may require additional funding to replenish in the future.
Appendix I – Strategic plan
Background/scope
Following the introduction of the regional fare cap Albury services have seen a significant
increase in popularity, this has led to all seats being taken up and some passengers needing
to stand for long periods on select services, particularly on weekends.
In these cases, staff have arranged banker coaches to supplement the service, with some
passengers choosing to transfer onto coaches and some choosing to remain standing on the
train.
V/Line has committed to investigating changes to the reservation system to help reduce the
number of passengers required to stand and improve comfort for passengers including
trialling making weekend services fully reserved.
Currently two carriages are reserved on each Albury service with the remaining carriage
(three carriage train) or four carriages (six carriage train) being unreserved.
As this change would have a significant impact on passengers’ current travel behaviours,
V/Line has chosen to complete consultation to assist with considering whether this trial
should be implemented.
Research segments
Current service users – passengers onboard services or booking services
Other passenger groups – passengers who have previously travelled and signed up to
receive correspondence from V/Line; participants in Accessibility Reference Group (ARG)
Stakeholder advocacy groups – Border Rail Action Group (BRAG)
V/Line staff- frontline staff working on Albury line services
Methodology and participant recruitment
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-
Microsoft Forms Questionnaire - online questionnaire seeking passengers’
preferences and anecdotal feedback on proposed changes with participants engaged
via:
o Onboard engagement – Members of the CX team travelling on trains
explaining the situation to passengers and providing a QR code linking to the
questionnaire
o Point of sale – message during booking process linking to the questionnaire
o eDM – email to previous passengers who have agreed to receive
correspondence
o ARG – email to ARG members
o Staff – Questionnaire sent to North East frontline staff through the Voice of
Employee program (slightly modified questionnaire to ensure relevancy to
staff).
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Face to face engagement with key stakeholder groups – meeting to seek anecdotal
feedback from BRAG and any other relevant groups.
Data output
Research will gather both quantitative data as to whether participants are in favour of the
trial and qualitative responses on how the trial will impact their journeys. As passengers on
this line are predominately discretionary travellers some of the research will only capture a
‘moment in time’ and as such purely quantitative data is unlikely to accurately represent the
overall sentiment so output and analysis of data will focus on qualitative analysis of lived
experiences on the line.
Timing and budget
If approved engagement activities could commence from the weekend of 8-9 July.
Approx $500 would be required for QR code printing, all other activities can be managed
using in-house systems at no charge.
Onboard engagement logistics
To maximise the amount of weekend trains surveyed, staff can work in 4-hour shifts
travelling on Albury services between Southern Cross and Seymour (note: Albury services
do not stop between Broadmeadows and Seymour so there will be minimal crossover with
local Seymour line passengers).
Staff would travel on the 7:07am SCS to Albury between Melbourne and Seymour (arriving
Seymour 8:26am), then change to the 9:02am service from Seymour to SCS (this service
originates in Albury and is one of the highest patronised Albury services particularly on
Saturdays).
Staff could also travel to Albury on an evening service the night prior and return on the
morning service from Albury to Melbourne, however this would only allow 6-7 hours
overnight in Albury, so staff would likely need to be compensated with multiple days in lieu to
ensure fatigue management.
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