The largest survey of Britain’s rail passengers has revealed value for money satisfaction scores have increased a record eight points to 48% following the freeze and fall of season tickets and many other fares last January. Low inflation in mid-2009 meant that many fares fell in January and passengers are now waiting for the July 2010 inflation figure to see how much their fares will rise next year.
Commenting on the release of the National Passenger Survey (NPS), Passenger Focus said more than 31,000 rail users had participated in the Spring 2010 survey. Five out of six passengers (83%) reported they were satisfied overall with their last rail journey.
Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said: “As more trains arrive on time, Britain’s rail passengers are becoming more satisfied. Last year’s inflation figure halted the normal New Year season ticket price hike which improved many train companies’ value for money scores. However, the gap between the good and weaker performers remains wide – MerseyRail, Chiltern and c2c, among others, have all built on already strong performances. St Pancras continues to be voted passengers’ favourite (94% satisfied) of Britain’s busier railway stations.
“Some train companies have really started to show improvements – London Midland, East Midlands Trains and Southeastern passengers have started to notice the difference. Southern is now only one point behind South West Trains, the top commuter operator south of the Thames. However, train companies’ overall scores do mask big differences in the passenger satisfaction scores for the individual routes the train companies run.”
Passengers continue to have concern with the industry’s handling of delays with no changes in passenger satisfaction (35%).
Mr Smith continued: “The power of investment in the railways is clear. Virgin Trains (90%) has motored ahead as the top scoring major long distance operator with nine out of 10 Virgin passengers satisfied overall with their last journey. The combination of new trains, renewed track and more frequent services are luring more passengers to the railway and keeping them happy. London Overground’s new trains have helped drive passenger satisfaction with upkeep and repair of the train through the roof (up 20% points) although overall satisfaction with the train company remained the same (72%).
“Southeastern’s new high speed services are loved by those who can afford them – 95% overall satisfaction, with a good rating for value for money. However, this magic dust has not settled on all of Southeastern’s services with metro services scoring 78%.”
Mr Smith concluded: “The NPS is one of the most cost effective ways of driving improvements for passengers. The results allow valuable comparisons between routes and train companies and Passenger Focus uses this to work with industry, planning how to boost satisfaction as well as help governments and others target resources.”
• First Capital Connect’s 76% overall score masks big variations – 81% overall satisfaction on Great Northern routes but Thameslink South services, starting from stations between London Bridge and Brighton, trail behind at only 66% satisfied
• Northern Rail’s 82% overall score spans 87% scores on West and North Yorkshire services and 74% on the crowded routes in and around Manchester and Liverpool
• First Great Western’s longer distance services score 86% but the commuter services in the Thames Valley are lower at 81%.
• Virgin Trains’ overall score is good but it hides a variation on some routes. For example, passengers travelling between London and North Wales are very happy overall (94%) while those using the London to Birmingham and Wolverhampton routes scored 88%.
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