RBS relies on crowdsourcing
Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn (RBS) is taking a new approach to rolling stock procurement to replace old trains: it’s letting customers have a say. Customers can use a crowdsourcing page to share ideas on how to maximize comfort on the trains.
The private company from Bernese-Solothurn gave the Platform free on Monday and by Wednesday morning there were already over 180 entries on the aforementioned website. Two customers, for example, suggest installing systems that inform passengers when seats are free. Another says: "Nothing that raises prices again, please." This "participation" of RBS customers will run until November 10, when the company will evaluate all ideas according to the criteria "suitable for mass use", "feasible" and "sustainable". The company management will then incorporate constructive and feasible ideas into the specifications for the new trains, as RBS announced on Wednesday.
RBS needs 16 new trains on the Bernese S-Bahn line 7 from Bern to Worb at a unit price of seven to eight million francs, as RBS communications specialist Caspar Lösche said on request. These trains are to replace the current compositions from 1973, known as "Mandarinli" because of their orange color. A project group is already preparing the tender. In 2016, RBS wants to know which manufacturer should build the 16 trains. The first vehicle is due to enter service towards the end of 2018. The S7 is used by an average of 24,000 passengers on weekdays. According to RBS, this makes it the most heavily used line on the entire Bern S-Bahn. As early as 1973, RBS customers were allowed to have their say, as can be seen from the RBS blog on the company's website: back then, customers were able to decide on the livery of the "Mandarinli" trains.
BLS also listens to customers
According to company spokesman Michael Blum, BLS, the second railroad company with particularly strong roots in the canton of Bern, also listens to its customers. Passengers were not as directly involved in the last rolling stock procurement, the purchase of 28 so-called Mutz double-decker trains, as they were with RBS. However, BLS asked customers to rate the new train on the Internet. This and other feedback received through other channels was incorporated into operations. For example, BLS has been able to better adjust the air conditioning systems, said Blum on request. According to Blum, BLS is already "considering" involving customers in the next rolling stock procurement. "But we don't know how yet". (SDA)
