Last weekend I had to get the train down to the coast once again, so armed with my vouchers from National Express I approached the ticket desk at London Liverpool Street and asked the man (dressed in National Express uniform) behind the counter for a return ticket.

Upon advising him that I was going to be paying with vouchers I was met with a surly sarcastic response about how “oooh, vouchers are our FAVOURITE form of payment”. Confused by his attitude I questioned if he was intending to be sarcastic or not. He replied, in an equally sarcastic tone, “no, of course not, we just LOVE vouchers. Of course come the end of the year the company accounts will be £50 short because of your vouchers so there will undoubtedly be a fare increase next year to cover the loss, but that’s just fine. Thank you.”

*BUMP*

The customer experience of National Express returns to earth with an almighty crash.

To anyone who’s read my previous posts it will also come as a surprise that I would be praising a rail company, but believe it or not here it comes…

Just before Christmas I had to make an urgent trip from London to Essex. I arrived at Liverpool Street station, checked the departure time of my train, shovelled a big wedge of cash into the ticket machine and just as my tickets printed out the automated departures and arrivals board lit up in a frenzy of flashing lights as one-by-one the trains changed from ‘On Time’ to ‘Cancelled’, ‘Bus Service’ or ‘Delayed’. Mine was cancelled. The tickets, still warm from the printer, cowered in my clenched fist.

I then embarked on the most excruciating train journey of my life. Both the outward and return journeys were subject to cancellations, delays, lack of onboard refreshments due to a broken boiler, overcrowding and general displeasure.

On my return I set about drafting a letter of complaint to the train company responsible, National Express. Seeing as there has been a lot of talk of will they/won’t they mergers with Stagecoach recently I wasn’t holding my breath in getting a positive response to my request for a full, and immediate, refund.

As Christmas set upon us I received a letter from National Express to inform me that they had read my letter and would attempt to come back to me within 6 days. Actually, it was more like 15, but hey, it was Christmas and who’s counting? I was stunned to receive another letter the other day profusely apologising for the ‘unforgiveable’ experience I had had to endure that day on the train, and explaining the reasons for the delays/cancellations but in a tone that was more apologetic and responsible than blame-ridden and bitter. Neatly tucked in the folded letter were vouchers for rail travel (on ANY network in the UK) for not only the full return fare but for the full fare + 25%.

Now, I’m not too sure whether it should be a big cheer for National Express per se, or a big cheer for the cranky insistence of a grump like me, but regardless, I thought the communications tone, and the ‘above and beyond’ value of the vouchers were a great example of a brand’s ability to create a positive experience out of a bad one. Well done National Express.

The new high speed train service from Ashford to London is a revelation. It makes the journey in 37 minutes instead of the 1 hour 22 minutes that a regular train demands. The speed feels effortless, especially where the line runs alongside the Motorway and you get to see the futility of a similar journey by car. The carriage is clean, comfortable, and hardly busy. The departure and arrival (St. Pancras) points have a clinical efficiency to them meaning that you’re in or out before you really know it. The end to end journey is fast. Damn fast. And, as high speed rail rolls out to more parts of the country over the coming generation, will probably change the way, or at least where, we live.

In this business we talk a lot about brand experience, and this one has to be up there close to the best of them. It succeeds where so many others fail by delivering the thing that matters most, an outstanding product.

Where it could yet deliver more is on the emotional side of the experience. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of my journey was the absence of any surprise. As it’s generally true that most railway-bound surprises are bad ones, then that could be said to be a strength but I can’t help but feel that there’s room for something more here. This is an experience that could afford a little more celebration. No, I don’t mean self-congratulatory announcements from the driver, but more something that allows the passenger to inwardly remark on the fact that a great travel choice has been made. And with only 37 minutes to fill instead of the old-school 82, one or two great ideas could be all that it needs.

At the end of the journey an American accent announced our arrival. This felt entirely appropriate, somehow emphasising the cultural shift that this service represents – from the slow discomfort of British railway’s past, to the fast, cosmopolitan simplicity of the future.

Now, where do I catch the tube?