Are Tourist Railways "welcoming" enough?

We (Gwili) have found Tripadvisor useful in the sense that one of the most frequent comments is that the ride is too short. This has provided some independent assurance that the extension is less WIBN and more that it is required. We were also able to use a cross section of TA comments about length as part of our (successful) grant application for the extension.

Regards

Matt

 

Ooh - I wouldn't say that on a thread frequented by Mr Hitch...

 

Not at all- I am sure PH would agree that some extensions are not WIBN material. The difficulty is in predicting the precise outcome, it's never an exact science.

Regards

Matt

 

Fair enough, I avoid in most cases dragging my whole family to a railway, but in any event I am more likely to use Trip advisor or something similar as its mainly really people making a number of observations. You soon learn to weed out the comments from Americans say who are shocked by a souk in Morocco as it is nothing like the mall back home.

 

Both, of course!
"Crowdsourced" feedback is valuable if you get a big enough data sample to weed out personal foibles and confounding variables. Otherwise it js quite easy to get a very skewed idea, because, for example, people who had a nice but not stellar day often don't post reviews. Also people often don't give the real reasons for their opinions. TripAdvisor reviews might tell you that people don't like your refreshments, not rarely why or what you could do about it.
Meanwhile the accreditation schemes (the good ones) involve trained assessors who are impartial and experienced, and give constructive feedback.
Sometimes I decide to watch a film because it did well at the box office, and sometimes because it won an Oscar. Both are useful but not equivalent opinions.

 

I think you may have missed my point as I was referring to the general public when I wrote "What will be important to them........" My partner is a good example. When we visit a heritage line together she is not worried about what's on the front - as long as it's steam - but such things as the sate of the toilets, catering, well stocked shop and length of ride - she prefers longer journeys. If any these are not to her liking then no amount of "but it's the sole surviving Maryport and Carlisle 0-6-0" will change her opinion.

 

Don't! What a wonderful thought...

 

Absolutely. This particular one is fine unless it gives the Gwili daft ideas about going to Lampeter or Tregaron.

PH

 

I'm sure the Gwili will be over the moon with your qualified blessing.

 

I'm in shock, I think I need a little lie down!

 

Oh dear! More sarcasm. Never good. Just stick to the issues.

No need. As Matt 78 will confirm, I have said the same before. It is a sensibly sized project.

PH

 

Surely the criterion for an extension is quite simple: will it increase revenue more than it will increase operating costs? The revenue increase could be by making the run more attractive and hence bringing in more passengers, or by attracting more revenue per passenger without putting anyone off, or by connecting to a source of passengers (e.g. another attraction or, in some cases, a mainline connection with good links to a decent sized connurbation).
To return to the thread topic - the point in the case of the Gwili is that they had the feeback and so the data to decide that the extension would be attractive to passegers.

 

Apart from a feeling that mainline connections can be a bit W.I.B.N. , fair enough. As you say, back to the topic.

Paul H

 

Absolutely: some are purely romantic and have little prospect of bringing in passengers who wouldn't come already. Others could be valuable (examples might be Whitby, because it is a major attraction in its own right, hopefully East Grinstead in bringing in people from Greater London who wouldn't drive to Sheffield Park, perhaps Kidderminster similarly for Birmigham). Anyway, this is a separate discussion...

 

Getting back to the subject of Tripadisvor, although it wasn't the one I was looking for, it somewhat exemplifies what needs to be ignored.

Perhaps if the Contributor had considered changing carriages then they may have been more comfortable. Sadly, it appears, that they hadn't clad themselves in sufficient clothing that, should their mode of personal transport fail, then they wouldn't be able to maintain an acceptable environment. And their Arithmetic isn't too bright as we only run up to 7 carriage trains - but that may change this year.

It continues,

"pre-warned or advised"! It was Winter. The carriage heating commences as soon as the condensed steam escapes via the drip valves. This can be accelerated, as has sometimes happened when I have been a Toddington, by opening the Steam valve of the last carriage, whereby litres of sub 100 degree C water is allowed to escape. Not something our Guards or TTI's are trained to do.

I just do not accept that ALL of the carriages took 1.5 hours to reach a comfortable temperature. Some may be slower than others but, that is the nature of the technology that prevailed all those decades ago.

For the Contributor, it must certainly have been a 'remarkable' experience.

Perhaps some Summer heat was required for them to regain their Keyboard skills.

 

The post by Ken R suggests the answer to the thread title, in this instance, is a definite no.
The trip advisor reporter says likes the line a lot and generally finds the staff very friendly. Even so he was disappointed enough to write a report which was highly critical. He was, presumably, a fare paying passenger and deserved better. It was noticeable that a railway response was made to a subsequent trip advisor poster - a complimentary one - but no comment or apology to our unsatisfied traveller.
Those paying for tickets, whilst out for their own enjoyment, are customers of the railway and as far as I am concerned should be regarded as such and given the best possible service. If, as it seems in this case, the service was sub standard, at least some attempt to say sorry should have been in order and not the ridicule demonstrated here. Hopefully, those 'very friendly' folk mentioned in the trip advisor report do take a different view towards those who support the railway (and in some cases pay the wages).

 

There may be one explanation for the heating issue. If the set was last used in Jan, which was fairly mild the heating may have been turned off / down' The TTIs usually check they have been turned back on

 

Absolutely agree. This instance encapsulates all my misgivings about the amateurishness and caprice of Tripadvisor. A quick email (i.e. not months later) would have alerted the railway that they had a potential problem. I did something similar some time ago after enduring an at times violent shaking aboard a tourist railway train being hauled by a (I believe) visiting loco. This shaking would have caused real pain or discomfort to someone with neck problems. As the staff member I mentioned this to did not seem to grasp the issue I emailed the railway. The reply was very satisfactory and included the offer of a complimentary ticket (declined with thanks by the way)

PH

 

Possibly. Alternatively, if I came across that when looking up somewhere, it would tell me both that the reviewer is of reduced credibility and that the railway may not be 100% at checking all is in order from a customer perspective.


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