The future of East Coast

A key aim of Directly Operated Railways is to increase the number of passengers who choose to travel with East Coast. And whilst East Coast has increased its market share of rail over plane on primary routes between Scotland, the North East and London, since it commenced the franchise in November 2009, tough competition will remain. Possible future licences for new Open Access Operators on the East Coast line, continuing cheap air travel and competitive road travelling times, will mean that increasing numbers of customers will have a choice of how they wish to travel. That means the East Coast service has to be second to none.

That's why East Coast has made significant investments in the business since November 2009 to boost service quality and to introduce innovation. The overall strategy is focused on each individual element of the passenger journey, from general awareness of the East Coast service, improving the on-board travelling experience, especially in First Class - through to arrival at the customers' final destination. We want to ensure that every customer's experience with East Coast:

• Satisfies the customer's requirements;
• Encourages more frequent travel on East Coast services; and
• Reinforces the company's goals, vision and values.