Speaker Biograghy: Richard has 30 years' experience in rail and since 1997 has added rail links to airports as a specialism. He was involved in the startup of Heathrow Express and subsequently joined the company as Operations and Customer Service Director. In 2007 he founded North Star Consultancy and has advised rail operators globally on rail operations including those that serve airports. He also founded the Global Air Rail Market Share benchmarking report, which is in its fourth year and has allowed operators to benchmark their annual initiatives and results against their peers.


Day 2 - 16 March
Session: Airport Cities & Transport Connections

16:05 - 16:30 - How strategic partnership agreements provide a seamless air-rail experience
Synopsis: This case study examines how a strategic partnership agreement between Luton Airport and a rail operator improved the customer experience through common goals that drove up rail mode share through physical and digital improvement. The agreement established priorities, their impact/deliverables and stimulated jointly funded initiatives. The partnership delivered many customer-orientated project elements that contributed to a transformation in the journey experience, which were demonstrable through KPIs and rail mode share. The outputs included additional trains, seamless ticketing and a significant improvement in passenger awareness and wayfinding throughout the journey, contributing to airport growth.

Audience will learn:

• How to improve the customer journey to and from the airport
• Details of joint initiatives that deliver growth for rail operator and airport
• See the improvement from the customer perspective
• How to grow rail mode share