The January 2010 fare freeze and punctual trains have led to an improved report card for Scotland’s railway. The largest survey of Britain’s rail passengers has revealed three out of five (61%) ScotRail passengers are satisfied with value for money, following January fares not increasing due to the low inflation figures in mid-2009.
Passenger Focus’s National Passenger Survey (NPS) found nine out of 10 (90%) ScotRail passengers were satisfied overall with their last train journey. Train companies running cross-border services also received good overall passenger satisfaction scores – Virgin Trains 90%, East Coast 88%, First TransPennine Express 87% and CrossCountry 85%.
Robert Samson, Passenger Focus Scotland manager, said: “Trains are becoming more punctual and passengers’ perception with value for money is improving. On top of this, ongoing investment in the railway has led to more frequent, punctual services, new trains and car-parking facilities – all of which means happier passengers.
“ScotRail continues to score well against the Great Britain average of 83% overall satisfaction. However, focus must continue on passengers’ bugbear – how the industry handles disruption, a priority for passengers but only 40% satisfied.”
Passenger Focus will be using the NPS results, in which over 56,000 passengers take part each year, to work with industry in the review and planning of improvements to their services. This research builds into a powerful picture of how services vary around Britain. Armed with this research Passenger Focus, working with the train companies and Network Rail, plan how to boost satisfaction and help governments and others target resources.
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