These are testing times for the transport and distribution sector.
While service this year hasn’t been disrupted by the heavy snowfalls of previous years, customers of rail providers and distribution companies have still found plenty to complain about.
Royal Mail Group, for example, has been experiencing glitches with its website that began before Christmas and have continued into the New Year.
Computerworld UK reports that the problem began when the company migrated online data onto new servers, causing some customers to be overcharged.
Certain services, such as the Royal Mail SmartStamp and Online Postage applications, were “knocked offline over the busy Christmas period”.
Perhaps more worrying for the company is the fact that, according to the Financial Times, TNT, the Royal Mail’s biggest private sector competitor, is planning to go “head-to-head” with its rival, launching its own delivery service for bulk and direct mail.
TNT has piloted the service in Liverpool, and plans to extend it to other parts of the country later this year. If successful, the move will break Royal Mail’s near monopoly of the “final mile” of delivery to homes and offices, the paper reports.
The FT believes that the increased competition will be another headache for Royal Mail, which is due to be privatised in 2013.
Network Rail also has plenty to be concerned about.
The company, which has already pleaded guilty to safety failings over the death of two girls at a level crossing in 2005, is facing criminal prosecution for the 2007 Virgin Trains rail crash at Grayrigg, which killed one person and left another 88 injured.
The FT says that the Office of Rail Regulation, which has begun criminal proceedings, believes that Network Rail has committed a serious breach of health and safety law.
If found guilty, the company could face a fine of £20,000 in the magistrates’ court.
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Rail users are increasingly unhappy with the cost of their journeys.
A report in the FT says that fares are rising faster than salaries and that a survey by Passenger Focus found that “the proportion of people satisfied with their rail expenditure fell from 49 to 46 per cent” over a six-month period.
Passenger Focus’s chief executive, Anthony Smith, said, “Train companies and Network Rail must keep up a relentless attention on getting trains on time.”
Satisfaction with individual providers varied: Grand Central, run by Arriva, won the highest rating, while customers of First Capital Connect, run by FirstGroup, were among the least satisfied.
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