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National Rail Passenger Survey results – three train operating companies significantly improve, while three significantly decline

July 2, 2020

Yorkshire-based train company Grand Central has been rated the passengers’ favourite in a national survey of rail users, enjoying an overall customer satisfaction score of 95%.

The National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) has revealed that overall satisfaction by train operating companies varied between 75% and 95%.

Comparing the percentage of journeys rated as satisfactory overall for individual train operating companies with spring 2019, three significantly improved and four significantly declined.

The operators seeing improvements were:

Great Northern (+9%) Grand Central (+6%) ScotRail (+5%) The operators seeing declines were:

Avanti West Coast (-7%) compared to previous operator. TransPennine Express (-5%) Trains (-5%) South Western Railway (-4%)

The good news for Grand Central comes as the open access operator announces it would be returning to service on both routes in late July, following a four-month hibernation period due to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

Grand Central managing director Richard McClean said: “It’s been a memorable week for us, to say the least.

“These have been a tough few months so to have our passengers rate us best in Britain is a massive boost for morale amongst our team, many of whom remain on temporary furlough as we gradually return to service.

“We’ve always enjoyed a strong endorsement from our customers in the NRPS. To be rated best overall operator in the country again is validation of our customer care and the work of our team. It also shows that giving passengers a choice of operator drives up overall satisfaction and value for money.”

The NRPS provides a -wide picture of customers’ satisfaction with rail travel, with the opinions collected over 10 weeks twice a year from a representative sample of passenger journeys. The main fieldwork took place between 27 January and 16 March 2020, with around 19,850 returning questionnaires for all TOCs combined. Any results based on less than 50 questionnaires in the report are hidden.

Another open access operator scoring highly was , with a 92% overall satisfaction rating.

Louise Cheeseman, managing director for Hull Trains said the results highlighted the importance of open access operators in driving improvements within the rail industry.

“The outcome of this survey demonstrates the vital role open access operators play in the rail industry,” she said.

“Sadly, under the current circumstances we haven’t been able to run any services but we are still incredibly proud of these scores which have given the team a real boost whilst we plan a cautious and considered return.”

The highest ratings for overall satisfaction for franchised train companies were achieved by North Eastern Railway (91%), (90%), ScotRail (90%) and (89%).

David Horne, Managing Director at LNER, said: “LNER remains committed to providing the very best customer experience for all of our customers. This latest set of results demonstrates our continued focus to do just that. Since the survey was carried out, we have further enhanced our cleaning measures at stations and on our trains to ensure people can travel with us with confidence.

“We look forward to building on these latest results by making travel simpler, smarter and keeping the customer at the very heart of all we do.”

Full list – overall satisfaction with the journey (National Rail Passenger Survey, Transport Focus)

Avanti West Coast – 84% – 82% – 88% CrossCountry – 85% Railways – 83% Gatwick Express – 89% Grand Central – 95% Great Northern – 86% Great Western Railway – 86% Greater Anglia – 77% – 94% Hull Trains – 92% London North Eastern Railway – 91% – 87% Merseyrail – 90% Northern – 77% ScotRail – 90% South Western Railway – 75% Southeastern – 83% Southern – 78% TfL Rail – 89% – 81% TransPennine Express – 78% Transport for Wales – 81% West Midlands Trains 79%

Photo credit: Grand Central