Platform on civil engineering, underground infrastructure, energy, construction equipment & construction machinery
They are called "neighbors," the 2.2 million Dutch people who live within 300 meters of the railroad tracks. People who may be inconvenienced by work on and around the tracks. That ProRail is an organization where people's welfare is paramount is obvious from the fact that it itself comes up with the almost affectionate term "neighbors." Consequently, ProRail is committed to keeping a good relationship with all its neighbors.
Traditionally, ProRail has communicated with its neighbors through resident letters, which are carefully prepared by the company's communications department. That takes time and planning, every time, and only provides the recipient with a snapshot. There is room for improvement, thought Inés Plasmans-Levert, Director of Communications and External Relations ProRail. We talk to her about improving nuisance communication.
"Traditional residents' letters are surrounded with every care, but always reflect a snapshot of works. It is not possible for us to communicate by paper mail every change in plans or unforeseen work to people who live close to the tracks," Inés opens the conversation. "Then it can happen that people sit upright in bed at night -most of the work takes place at night-, startled awake by noise from the tracks. It's frustrating when, as a neighbor, you then don't know what's going on. That will now change."
The work and updates around it will be completed by the contractors working on the track.
Through a new, digital information platform, residents will be notified of work that ProRail expects to cause inconvenience. "The work and updates about it are entered by the contractors working on the tracks themselves. Our communications staff merely check what is uploaded there. The great thing is that contextual standard necessary information is also added, in the form of photo and video. Our neighbors thus know 24/7 what's going on and get a good insight into any emergency work being done."
Our neighbors know what's going on 24/7 and get a good understanding of any emergency work being done. (Image: Gerrit Serne)
The 550,000 local residents who live within 100 meters of the country's 7,000 kilometers of track have now received an invitation by mail to sign up on the digital system. The system is available to anyone living within 300 meters of the railroad. "With this we are reaching a total of 2.2 million people, whom we are thus offering a better service than has ever been possible. For the time being, we do announce very large projects via paper mail, but perhaps that will also change in the future. However, people who, for whatever reason, are not going to use the digital system will continue to be informed in outline form via paper mail," Inés said.
Inés Plasmans-Levert, Director of Communications and External Relations ProRail. (Image: Erik van 't Woud)
ProRail is at the forefront of sustainability and process improvement. The new, digital information system saves as many as 1 million paper letters a year, a saving of 80% in paper consumption. Inés: "I am proud of what we are doing and especially of the team that made this development possible. It was a monk's work. The result will be more connection, insight and understanding, like two-way traffic. That will make everyone happy!"
A screenshot of the new digital information platform.
