Network Rail employees have recently been instructed to change their professional vocabulary when communicating directly with passengers or via written correspondence, The Telegraph reported. The company, which owns and maintains a vast number of Britain’s railways, has released a new 134-page training manual outlining the terms and expressions it aims to eliminate and modify.
“To put passengers first, we have to speak their language. That goes for all of us. Whoever we’re talking to, whatever the situation,” said Andrew Haines, CEO of Network Rail.
The new guidance is laid out in a document titled “Speaking Passenger”, which aims to encourage staff to adopt a more conversational and less formal tone, particularly during service disruptions. This happens in light of growing passenger dissatisfaction, following 370,000 cancelled or partially cancelled train services in 2024, according to The Office of Rail and Road.
The “Speaking Passenger” paper urges employees to see things from the perspective of the commuter – potentially tired, cold, frustrated, and stranded – during delays and cancellations. Therefore, the goal is to reduce passenger frustration by using more human and empathetic language. Additionally, the documents also underscored the importance of inclusive communication, calling staff to “eliminate discriminations, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different people.”
Several formal terms such as “purchase”, “obtain”, and “rest assured” are being fully removed from the company’s vocabulary. Gender-specific language is also discouraged. Words like “mother” and “father” to be changed to “parent”, while “pregnant woman” will be replaced with “pregnant person”. Similarly, words using the prefix “man” such as “manpower” will be changed to people. Network Rail employees are also advised not to assume that passengers are observing certain holidays. Instead, they are instructed to say, “Merry Christmas to those who are celebrating” or “Happy holidays”, which are more inclusive greetings.
New announcements are expected to sound “less formal, simpler, and more relatable”. For example: “I’m really sorry everyone but we’ve had to cancel all the trains this evening. A tree’s fallen across the tracks just outside the station and it’s going to take a few hours to clear.” This contrasts with the previous formal tone: “All services are currently cancelled due to recent storm events. We would like to apologise for the inconvenience this may cause to your journey.”
“Passengers are at the heart of our tone-of-voice guidelines, which have been in place for several years and are common practice in customer-facing organisations,” said a Network Rail spokesman.
