The Miss Marple Railway

January 26 Wrexham & Shropshire Railway ceased trading, the day it was announced that it had the highest customer satisfaction rating of any other Train Operating Company at 96%

We all feel upset at people losing their jobs, this was a double tragedy because this Train Operating Company and its staff really showed the rest of the rail industry how to ‘do’ customer service, it was a showpiece of what can be done, what we can do, and what we need to do. It was a quality operation from the refurbished elegantly simple Coaches to its toilets. 

The company was an example of how railways should be done, and what can be done when someone wants quality, not only was the quality of the rolling stock exceptional – the toilets were clean and modern and light, a strange thing to concentrate on but a basic of rail travel – the interiors were clean and well thought out, even to the horizontal power points; the simple grey/silver scheme that wreaked of class and created a relaxing atmosphere and more than perhaps anything the large picture windows so you could see the countryside rolling by, a journey not a commute.  Standard Class was to such a high standard that I had to ask if I was I was in Standard or First Class, the only other time I have had to do this was on a German ICE train.  The coaches Wrexham & Shropshire were using we built nearly 30 years old but refurbished to an exceptional standard that outshone the big boys of the railway such as West Coast or East Coast, and these companies are playing in the £100 millions league.  

No plastic seats, no small pokey windows, no narrow aisles, but good old fashioned coaches.

But a quality railways is more than its coaching stock, it is more than anything else its people, and they were quietly efficient getting the job done professionally and being friendly at the same time. 
These guys should be getting awards for their service not their P45’s.
 
A friend called the Wrexham & Shropshire the ‘Miss Marple Railway’ and so it was, with a standard of service that is has long since disappeared, and will probably never return, courteous yet efficient and dignified yet friendly; the ‘Miss Marple Railway’ tag was not a slur it was compliment.

Wrexham and Shropshire were a victim of a process that expounds competition, yet this company, it has been argued by rail commentators,  was not allowed to compete at Birmingham New Street, Snow Hill or Coventry where the quality of service far surpassed that of Chiltern Railways (a good operator) and Virgin West Coast – this company would have been turning people away but they were not allowed to compete fairly, having to take the scenic route, stopping in out of the way places like some sleepy backwater railway but with the ability to be mainline through and through.

It seems in the UK that quality is not rewarded.

Today, 26 Jan, it was reported that a W&S train ran to all booked stations and the Driver got out at each station and explained that the company has been closed and he couldn’t take any customers because the company had folded, a class act!