MPs Simon Wright and Chloe Smith visited Norwich rail station on Friday 7th September to staff the train operator’s newly installed Information Desk and find out how it is benefitting passengers.  The installation of the new desk on the station concourse, which represents the delivery of another of the train operator’s franchise commitments, will improve customer service, helping passengers who need train running information or who have specific queries about their journey.

The Information Desk is staffed by a customer service assistant, who was temporarily assisted on Friday by Simon Wright, the MP for Norwich South, and Chloe Smith, the MP for Norwich North, who, along with other MPs, businesses, Network Rail and passengers, have been working with Greater Anglia on the manifesto for greater investment in the region’s rail network.

The desk is in addition to the Customer Service Office near platform 1, which is still available for customer assistance. The new desk on the concourse is situated so as to be more immediately accessible and visible on entering the station and will benefit passengers who want to check train running information, ask about station facilities or are in a hurry to find the right platform for their train.

Mr Wright said: “As a passenger, one of the main things you want to be confident of is that when you’re in a hurry you can get current information about your journey without having to look for it or to queue. I’m hopeful that this new service will improve the experience of passengers leaving from and arriving in Norwich.”

Chloe Smith commented, “I am very interested in Greater Anglia’s customer service operation. It’s vital to have a friendly face welcoming passengers to Norwich and helping people go about their business by train. I look forward to meeting the team – who I see very regularly as a train passenger myself!

“Greater Anglia has worked with MPs, the Local Enterprise Partnership, businesses, councils, Network Rail and passengers as part of our united campaign for the improvements we want to see in the long term for Norfolk’s rail. 

“The East Anglian Rail Prospectus campaign is extremely important for business and leisure passengers alike.  It continues this autumn after the successes we achieved in July including upgrades to the Ely North junction.  Now we need to focus on the Norwich-London line, currently franchised by Greater Anglia. In the long term I want to see faster journey times, better quality carriages and reliability. There is a once-in-a-generation opportunity this year to start to get the infrastructure and specification right.

“I will continue to lead the campaign in Westminster by bringing MPs together from four counties to achieve common goals across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire.”

Greater Anglia’s Area Customer Service Manager, James Reeve, said, “The new desk will improve the information provision to passengers and enable us to provide even better customer service by having a member of staff on hand and easily visible as soon as you enter the station concourse.”

Similar desks have also been installed at Cambridge and Stansted rail stations and smaller Information Kiosks at Bishops Stortford, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich and Stratford as part of Greater Anglia’s ongoing commitment to improve customer service.