Support for travel centres
Article: More time for advice thanks to the new RZ-Ticker passenger information screen
11/2024 – The new info screens at the entrances to travel centres provide all the latest travel information, saving valuable time for passengers and staff. The information is posted by the employees themselves and is all possible thanks to the partnership between DB Fernverkehr and DB Systel.
The travel centres at numerous train stations are intended to help passengers find their connections and the right tickets. In practice, however, they also deal with a wide range of passenger enquiries and issues. "The reality is that passengers come to us with everything," explains Philipp Cartier, travel centre user experience manager, "anything from 'where are the lockers? to 'which platform does my train leave from?' Or, 'how do I get to Spain with three children, a dog and four suitcases?'," he jokes. "That's the range of scenarios: from very straightforward and not in our remit to extremely specialised."
Advice on complicated customer issues and numerous enquiries when the operating situation is unstable keep the travel centres very busy, especially during operational disruptions. "The amount of service being provided by travel centres is increasing all the time," explains DB Fernverkehr colleague Jochen Bies, who is responsible for the travel centre systems: "A good 50% of our time is now spent on customer service. Disruptions of operations play a big part in this. It is precisely in such disruptive situations that we realise that customers come with the same questions."
If, for example, a connection is cancelled or passengers miss their connection due to a delayed ICE train, passengers want help, which they seek at the travel centre. All of a sudden, you can have crowds of passengers all wanting to know what their next steps are. In addition, many other passengers regularly come with the same general questions, for example about lockers. In the past, employees would often come up with what they had at their disposal, using whiteboards, for example, to write answers to frequently asked questions in felt-tip. This highlighted the need for a professional solution in the travel centres.
Key info for passengers directly at the entrance
This is where the new digital travel centre info board, the RZ-Ticker, comes in. On this information system, travel centre staff can display important passenger updates in a visible location at the travel centre entrance. The information can be added in a few clicks. The large screen and DB-branded messages are more professional and better received by the passengers than handwritten boards. From the outset, it was important that the employees were in control of the content, rather than head office. The new system was launched by DB Fernverkehr working in partnership with DB Systel.
This is just one example of the measures currently being taken to optimise the service provided by advice centres to better meet passenger needs. Travel centres have experienced significant changes in recent years. Once the largest sales point for rail tickets, they have become the most important drop-in centre for advice and service. In response to these developments, large travel centres are currently undergoing a comprehensive refurbishment. The new concept for the large travel centres creates a modern appearance and aims to improve the customer experience when waiting and resolving simple issues at reception. The RZ-Ticker info board is part of this new concept.
The story behind the new info board
The joint DB Fernverkehr and DB Systel project was launched in September 2023 at a kick-off workshop in Erfurt. "Communication couldn't have been better," says Stefan Thiele from DB Systel, recalling the positive collaboration over the project period: "We came up with lots of good ideas, which were swiftly actioned. In other words, short iterations instead of long periods of talking and planning," says the implementation team product owner. Despite the fast decision-making, the DB Fernverkehr colleagues had everything under control: " For all the spontaneity, there was no sense of chaos. The project was very well structured and transparent," adds Jochen Bies from DB Fernverkehr.
In terms of the joint project implementation, Stefen Thiele from DB Systel said, "The storymap certainly helped illustrate how the users experience and use the product. It was therefore always easy to break down what needed to be implemented into epics and stories." The DB Systel development team tasked with implementing the project had only recently been formed at the start of the project: "From the outset, we wanted to take responsibility as a team and deliver everything – the backend and the frontend – from a single source. We wanted to control the entire pipeline ourselves, including the IT-side application management," says Stefan Thiele.
Although the travel centres and new information screens are physical objects, the RZ-Ticker relies on web technology. The product is essentially a lean content management system in the AWS cloud in which the users, the travel centre employees, write content that is provided via a web address. The info screen at the travel centre then shows this website. The on-site employees have complete control over the content displayed. Several participatory workshops, which were organised by DB Vertrieb, were run during development to give the travel centre employees an opportunity to contribute their own ideas and provide feedback on the current prototype.
Technically, the RZ-Ticker was a genuine 'greenfield' implementation: "We were given free rein to decide on the best framework," recalls Stefan Thiele. The result is a backend with microservices based on Spring Boot and a frontend based on React. The application is connected to the RIS API, the central passenger information interface. This interface transmits current journey information to the system to allow for relevant passenger information, about platform changes, for example, to be displayed on the screen.
FAQs for passengers: how the RZ-Ticker works
In April 2024, following an implementation phase of around six months, the RZ-Ticker was trialled in the first travel centres. Employees can now post a new message to the screen within a few seconds using their own templates or pre-prepared templates for standardised nationwide communication from head office and the current travel data from the rail interface: "It was designed to be as straightforward as possible, as such times can be quite stressful. There are 100 people standing there and you suddenly realise that something has happened," says Philipp Cartier. "You can then quickly search for the template, select the train and publish the information."
However, the RZ-Ticker is also useful in less urgent situations. It can answer the most frequently asked questions without passengers having to wait to speak to an advisor. This frees up the staff to provide individual advice instead of having to answer the same questions time and again. As Philipp Cartier explains, "Some passengers try and book a Deutschland-ticket for Germany-wide travel at the desk, for example, but they have to do it via the online app. They therefore need the DB Navigator and can only pay with their EC card." If this information is already displayed at the entrance, "It is hoped that passengers will notice and take the necessary action." Employees can have the screen display up to four messages in rotation.
Available for all travel centres
After a trial phase lasting several months, during which final features and optimisations were implemented, the RZ-Ticker is now available for all stations: "The product originated from the modernisation project for the large travel centres and every travel centre that is converted is guaranteed to receive it," says Philipp Cartier. "But the added value is so great that this can already be created at any location that wants it and where the spatial conditions allow it." The only requirement is a screen at the entrance. The software itself is free of charge for travel centres. Head office can create a new login in a few clicks and the employees can get started.
"We have received amazing feedback from the sites. It genuinely makes life easier for the employees," reports Philipp Cartier. "It has been especially well received in Nuremberg and Hamburg, for example. They use it a lot and report that it makes their work easier as the passengers receive the information they are looking for instantly or are better prepared. Even if they still visit the reception or counter, the questions will be more specific."
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