Northern picks up award for collaboration with rail users to co-create practical solutions to improve customer experience

26 April 2023

Northern has been recognised by a leading customer experience award scheme for using the lived experience of its passengers to co-create practical solutions to make travel more accessible to all.

The train operator picked up the Inclusivity title, which it accepted jointly with its strategic customer experience and innovation partner, Hellon, at The Forum Awards held in Nottingham on Tuesday (25 April).

The Forum Awards recognise organisations that are leading the way in raising standards for customer operations. They shine a spotlight on a variety of activity, including digital channels, face-to-face, back office operations and contact centres.

In their category, Northern was up against Firstsource, FIS/Worldpay, Legal & General, Ocado, RSA Insurance, the Student Loans Company and Water Plus.

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “It’s always nice to be recognised for your work and we accepted this award not only on behalf of Northern – but our customers too.

“This is a joint victory and was only possible thanks to the contribution of so many people - not least of all our Northern Accessibility User Group – whose members regularly give up their time and share their experiences to help improve the travel experience of millions of our customers.”

This is the latest award Northern has received for its work improving accessibility on their network.

In February, they won the Customer Service Excellence category at the Rail Business Awards for their ‘Accessible Travel Simulation’ – a game developed to support people with anxiety and other access needs to have the confidence to travel by train.

Earlier this month, they also announced the roll-out of eight more Passenger Assist Points which are designed to make travel easier for people with accessibility needs and launched British Sign Language versions of some of their key customer policy documents.

On Sunday 21 May, Northern’s new summer timetable comes into effect and all customers, especially those who have made regular journeys on the same train times, are advised to check before they travel. For more information, visit: www.northernrailway.co.uk/timetablechange

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.