Metro de Madrid

On Line 1 Metro de Madrid has begun to implement the new system of direct personalized user service known as the Commercial Supervisor in replacement for the traditional ticket sales windows. The change entails an increased number of ticket vending machines, elimination of the present ticket windows, and preparation of the facilities for the commercial supervisors.

Replacement will be gradual in order to prevent inconvenience for users. It will be done on Line 1 first, then on Line 6, and later on Line 8. In addition, it will be carried out so that works are not in progress at more than 4 stations at the same time. The installation of all the material plus the new equipment on these three lines involves an investment of over 16 million euro.

At present, 37% of the underground system stations already have this commercial feature. For the moment it is implemented on Line 12, where it has been in operation ever since its opening in 2003, on Line 3, since it was remodelled in September 2006, at all new stations opened during the previous legislature, and also at some that are currently being refurbished.

With this new management model Metro de Madrid sets out to offer more personalized, closer and speedier user service. In this way, for instance, anyone who observes an anomaly with the ticket machine may be attended at it by the Commercial Supervisor, who will be able to explain to the user how to act, step by step. The intention is to create a closer relationship between the user and Metro direct service personnel. In addition, thanks to the current fare system, which allows users to purchase multi-journey tickets (10-journey or season tickets), the number of sales operations is tending to decline, which means that the Commercial Supervisor may devote more time to monitoring and inspecting the facilities.

376 supervisor posts in 2010

37% of stations currently have Commercial Supervisors and it is planned that by 2010 62% stations should be equipped with this new management model. These figures mean that 254 people perform the function of Commercial Supervisor in the whole network, while in 2010 the number of Commercial Supervisor posts will stand at 376.

For this organizational improvement a Training Plan has been implemented for the staff who will be occupying these new posts, with technical training courses and person-oriented workshops, where the accent is placed on customer service. The people taking up these new jobs are given specific instruction that will enable them deal with possible events at stations in the system and resolve situations that may arise in the day-to-day service offered by Metro de Madrid.

The workers who perform this function every day at the present 96 stations have an intercom system that enables them to set up communication with the interphones that may be activated by any user and attend to them at any time, or else even go to the actual place. In addition, supervisors have a direct line to the Remote Installations Operation and Security Control Centres (TICS) which monitor the station systems to give notice of any event.

By the end of 2010 Metro will have replaced the traditional model with the Commercial Supervisor at 184 stations. The conventional model is being replaced thanks, above all, to the advance of the new technologies that provide for both local and remote supervision of the installations, which offers supervisors the possibility of being able to move freely around the station without having to be tied to a fixed location. The investment for the replacement of the ticket sales windows on these three lines amounts to over 16 million euro.