‘Euston Rush’ On Its Way Out as Early Train Boarding Introduced

Network Rail and its train operating partners have introduced a trial of earlier boarding of Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway train services to improve passengers’ experience at Euston station and significantly reduce instances of the ‘Euston rush’.

The announcement comes just weeks after Network Rail and the Department for Transport announced a five-point plan to deliver a better passenger experience at the station, with Transport Secretary Louise Haigh tasking the station’s teams to look again at how Euston works on a day-to-day basis and make immediate improvements where possible.

As of this week:

• Around 40% of Avanti West Coast services will be boarded 20 minutes before departure, with more services being added in the weeks ahead to the majority of services (around 55%) in the run-up to Christmas.
• ‘Continuous boarding’ of London Northwestern Railway’s Birmingham services introduced from 21 October is also here to stay where passengers are invited onto platforms to await their service as soon as the preceding service has departed.

The speeding up of passenger boarding and improved flows through the station have been made possible by the collaboration between Network Rail and the train operating companies to simplify cross-industry operational processes.

Gary Walsh, director for Network Rail’s West Coast South route, said: ‘Getting passengers to their services in good time is at the heart of our improvements at Euston, and today’s changes will tackle that issue head-on. Taking quick and effective action is at the core of our five-point plan which I’m pleased to say is starting to deliver for our passengers at London Euston station.’

Network Rail this week also convened its first rail industry summit to give passenger user groups and government an update on progress on Euston station’s five-point improvement plan.

The event saw Rail Minister, Lord Hendy and representatives from the DfT, Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern  Railway, TfL, the ORR, London TravelWatch and Transport Focus join Network Rail staff for a fact-finding visit of passenger operations, following the recent announcement of the five-point plan to improve passenger experience at the station.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, said: ‘I am pleased to see immediate improvements being made at Euston Station to reduce the risk of overcrowding, drive up standards and deliver a better experience for passengers.

‘For too long, Euston station simply has not been good enough. That’s why I have tasked Network Rail and operators with delivering a clear plan to alleviate some of the issues passengers are facing while we work on a long-term solution for the station.’

Cheryl Fox, interim customer experience director at Avanti West Coast, said: ‘We know the travelling experience for our customers at Euston has fallen below the standards they should rightly expect. This is why we welcome any steps to make improvements. We will continue to work alongside Network Rail as well as our partners on this trial and other measures, with the aim of making journeys at the station more comfortable for those travelling on the West Coast main line.’

Jonny Wiseman, customer experience director for London Northwestern Railway, said: ‘We are pleased to be working together with Network Rail and other train operators to improve the travelling experience for our customers at Euston. We’ll be monitoring the impact of these changes closely as we continue working with partners to make the process of boarding trains smoother across the station.’

While the future of the advertising board remains under review, rail industry partners discussed its potential to be used for passenger information. Other actions being explored include making all the information desks more visible together in one place, the further expansion of concourse waiting space and a full review of all station signage.  

As well as updating on Network Rail’s short-term plans at Euston, industry partners also took the opportunity to discuss the long-term aspirations to regenerate the Euston campus in future.