Brief

Deliver a new Southeastern website for the 2009 high speed service.

Southeastern is a rail operator that provides train services throughout the South East, including important commuter routes into London.

In December 2009 the new high-speed rail link was introduced between St Pancras and 21 stations in Kent, including international terminals Ashford, Stratford and Ebbsfleet, transforming the Southeastern service in this area.  This represented an important opportunity to realize key improvements to the Southeastern website. Tobias & Tobias were tasked with implementing the new site.

Strategy/Execution

The role of the new site, www.southeasternrailway.co.uk, was to help make finding out about current and new services and offers easier than ever and so improve passengers' travel experience. The website contained new and innovative functions, providing a one-stop-shop for the 8,000 daily users, including online purchase of rail tickets.

The website allows passengers to look up train times and for the first time buy tickets to anywhere in the UK.  The search and booking system enables passengers starting their journey in South East London, Kent and parts of East Sussex to collect their tickets from any Southeastern ticket machine. Passengers can use an interactive map showing current and future services and also find out the latest information on their regular journeys as well a sign up for SMS and email alerts in the event of major disruption.

Results

The website has played an important role in promoting and providing key information on the new High-Speed rail service as well as Southeastern’s Mainline and Metro services. The introduction of SMS and email alerts has been welcomed by customers as a key new service, providing valuable information particularly at times of disruption.