Transcript of the Jeremy Vine show, BBC Radio 2, Friday 11th February 2005

QUOTE

JV: I wonder what you like of the idea of having TV on train in the morning, to keep abreast of news so on, a television at the end of the carriage while your commuting to work. We are talking about that next.

[…]

If personal stereos and mobile phones already disturb your train journey into work in the morning you wont take kindly to the news that a number of rail companies are planning to introduce televisions on to their trains. The TV’s will feature the news, advertisements and up-to-date travel information and hears the rub, they can’t be turned off.

Rail bosses say the screens will provide an enhanced passenger experience, as well as some much needed revenue no doubt. Some passenger groups see the new technology as an unwelcome intrusion into an already stressful commute and we are joined by somebody who represents a group of commuters, Peter Slattery is commuter, chairman of Southend Rail Travellers Association.

Hi Peter

PS : Good afternoon

JV: And in the Studio with me is David Hamilton, who is commercial director of c2c, which runs trains in to Essex and London’s Fenchurch Street.

David Hamilton first of all just explain to us all what the rational for this is.

DH: Well good afternoon Jeremy, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to your listeners with regards to this new idea. We believe this is an interesting innovation for our customers and we think that once our customers actually start to experience it they will welcome the innovation as well. That’s the experience of other users that are currently seeing it in the West Midlands.

JV: And the innovation is, describe it.

DH: It is TV on trains er there is a mixture on the TV of news, travel information, weather, sports. Its very important that we get the content of the broadcast relevant to the customers and we are going to be seeking customer feedback as to that content. Its also really important, I think to understand that we are trying to offer choice to customers by making some areas of the train actually free of the TV’s. But don’t get me wrong we do recognise that this isn’t the most important thing that customers and commuters look for from a rail company. What they look for first and foremost is to get the basics right and that means for a rail company is punctuality, getting them to where they want to go on time.

JV: So one must assume that as least going in the right direction to talk about the televisions. Peter Slattery what have you got against them.

PS: We certainly are I’m afraid. We find it very much a personal intrusion during your daily journey to and from work. Commuters quiet often work on the train or try and either sleep or build up themselves going to or coming home from work. And this is definitely .. 8 screens per carriage, its not just one screen per carriage as all thought at first, there is 8 per carriage there is no room for escaping these quiet zones there are no speakers but you will still receive the flickering of a televisions from further down the carriage.

JV: and David just on one particular point, we’ve got a message as part of this background here that televisions will be fitted with sensors which can tell how much noise there is in side the train. If the hub-ub in the train reaches a certain level, the television will turn itself up, is that really true.

DH: well, what try and do is set the volume for the speakers at what we call a low conversational level, one of the parts that has been trailed at the moment on the West Midlands is that the system is sensitive to the amount of information that’s out their. In fact some of the research coming back from the system that’s currently running in the Birmingham area is that many of the customer who are feeding back saying its not loud enough, as opposed that its too loud.

JV But if your having a conversation with somebody who is standing next to one of these televisions and you need to make to … talk louder to make yourself heard the television senses you that speak louder and it gets louder.

DH: No No I don’t think its meant to work that particular way

JV  that would drive people crazy wouldn’t it.

DH: Its not meant to just accelerate or increase the amount of noise that’s going on in the carriage at any one time. Its about having the system sensitive, if you like, to the ambient noise that’s in the carriage at that point, but again…

JV: …that’s the same thing isn’t it.

DH: I come back to the point that its really important that our customers appreciate if you like and welcome this innovation. If that’s wrong then …then system will not be the success that we want it to be, and that’s not in our interests or indeed in our customers interests.

JV: and Peter Slattery you can move into a carriage where there is no television.

PS You cannot move into any carriage without a television at all. Every carriage has 8 televisions onboard. There is no escape, I’m afraid, from these intrusions at all.

DH: there is an escape, there is an escape because on each of the carriages indeed on every, indeed on one in 4 of the carriages, there are areas of TV free and speaker free zones. That means that about 30% of the whole of the train, will actually be free of the TV’s and free of the speakers. That we think represents reasonably real choice for customers.

JV: If they could find a place to sit, but I mean if the quiet bits of the carriage fill up they will have to stand nearer to a TV won’t they.

DH: Well the results we got from the survey showed that actually the majority of the customers welcomed this service so its about being able to those the opportunity who want to watch the content and listen to the broadcast to the opportunity to do that as well.

JV: Mr Slattery:

PS: I would like to know where the information about all the customers like the idea. We have had nothing but negative comeback on this. And have yet to see one person to say it’s a good idea. We have asked c2c in our meetings where did this information come from, did it come from an independent source and that question has still not been answered.

DH: Its come from a number of sources, there has been a number of independent surveys done in the London areas and around in the West Midlands area, and that’s shown the majority of customers actually want and welcome the system, particularly after they have experienced it.

JV: They want televisions on trains

DH: indeed, we ourselves have done some research with our own c2c customers and again about two thirds of those were very interest in the system

JV you didn’t ask them if they would like their trains to be quieter?

DH: no no we asked them whether they wanted this particular system and we explained what the system was about and what the product was about.

JV: Because a lot of people seem to want peace and quiet on a train

DH: Well what people want from a train service is first and foremost as I go back to the first point is punctuality and just as a matter of fact if you like with regards to c2c at the moment, c2c is the most punctual railway in London and the Southeast so c2c are getting the basics right with regard to delivering what commuters want.

JV: All right, Richard King is on the line from Wakefield, would you like a television on your train Richard?

RK: No I certainly wouldn’t and I think at the moment c2c may be punctual but its difficult enough to get people on to a train as it is, public transport is really suffering that their isn’t enough investment in providing enough room for passengers. In the Wakefield area I come home at night on a busy train, I have no choice where I sit, I have to go wherever there is space and I would have no choice whether I’m forced to listen to TV or not.

JV: Thank you Richard, last comment from you David.

DH: Investment is a big issue for the railway as everyone knows, in fact in the last few years we have invested over 300 million pounds in new rolling stock on the c2c route

JV: Thank you very much in deed David Hamilton of c2c whose going to be putting televisions on the trains and Peter Slattery of Southend Rail Travellers Association.

[...]

Thanks for being with us this week we’ve been getting loads of calls now about televisions on trains, I wish we could discuss this further. James in Harlow says trains in Berlin have TV and it is great.

A comment from Mike Wilson in Lancashire who says I think TV on trains are a good idea, if that commuter Peter Slattery wants peace and quiet he can use a car, why cant these people live in the real world

Michael McDonald in Middlesbrough says everybody wants these televisions do they, why is it that train companies that have quiet coaches, and those are the ones that are are always full.

And a very interesting technical point finally from Roy Brown who emails and says surely if the television has a sensor and it turns its self up, its sensor will hear and turn the TV up again, and hear that and turn it up again, we could be in a situation of chaos.

Thanks you very much for all your calls….
 

UNQUOTE

* TRUG calculate the percentage free to be 23%, or 61 seats out of 278 per 4 car train, David Hamilton has kindly confirmed to TRUG that this is the case.