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Rail passenger satisfaction falling prior to London Christmas chaos Rail passenger satisfaction falling prior to London Christmas chaos
(about 3 hours later)
The number of rail passengers satisfied with their journey has dropped compared with a year ago, according to a new study. More rail passengers are becoming dissatisfied with their train journeys, according to the latest annual survey, with some seeing their timetable as “a work of fiction”.
A huge survey of 27,000 passengers found that 81% expressed satisfaction with their journey when questioned last autumn, 2% down on the previous autumn. The research, which polled 27,000 people at the time of travel across Britain, found almost one in five passengers were left discontented, with ever fewer seeing their services as reliable or able to find a seat on board.
The study, by watchdog Passenger Focus, did not include the Christmas period, when trains into London King’s Cross were seriously disrupted. The study, by watchdog Passenger Focus, was conducted in autumn, before the rail chaos and disruption around Christmas.
Passengers have also suffered delays and cancellations in several parts of the country since the start of this year because of signalling and other problems. On Tuesday there were severe delays at London’s Euston station during the morning rush hour when power supply problems affected all services to and from the station. Train operators vowed to improve performance after 81% of passengers expressed satisfaction, down 2% on the previous year.
Satisfaction levels varied between 74% and 94% for different train companies, with the highest scoring operators Heathrow Express and Grand Central, (both 94%) and Chiltern (93%). The worst-rated operator was Southeastern, which recently admitted that one of its train services had never run on time for an entire year. It received a satisfaction score of 74%, three below Thameslink and Southern. All three commuter services are operated by Govia, a joint venture between Go-Ahead and Keolis, a subsidiary of SNCF, the French national railway.
The lowest were Govia Thameslink and Southern (both with 77%) and Southeastern (74%). At 93%, Chiltern was the highest-ranked operator of a rail franchise, while the limited services offered by Heathrow Express and Grand Central received a 94% satisfaction score.
Southeastern’s overall satisfaction score fell 11% compared to a year ago, while Cross Country’s dropped 4% in a year.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of Passenger Focus, said: “Rail passengers’ satisfaction is driven by getting trains on time. Many are being let down – fare increases, billions in government investment and promises of improvement don’t seem to be delivering change on the ground.Anthony Smith, chief executive of Passenger Focus, said: “Rail passengers’ satisfaction is driven by getting trains on time. Many are being let down – fare increases, billions in government investment and promises of improvement don’t seem to be delivering change on the ground.
“The high-profile disruption after Christmas and at London Bridge will only have added to the gloom.“The high-profile disruption after Christmas and at London Bridge will only have added to the gloom.
“Passengers do not care who is to blame for things going wrong and for some of them the timetable is a work of fiction. If it really is the case that better day-to-day performance can’t be achieved, then an honest, open debate is now needed so that passengers might be able to trust the promises made by the industry again.”“Passengers do not care who is to blame for things going wrong and for some of them the timetable is a work of fiction. If it really is the case that better day-to-day performance can’t be achieved, then an honest, open debate is now needed so that passengers might be able to trust the promises made by the industry again.”
The number of passengers who believed their trains were punctual and reliable also fell by 2%, to 77%. The number of passengers who said their train was punctual and reliable fell by 2% to 77%. Fewer than half thought fares offered value for money, a similar level as last year. However, station facilities were thought to be improving.
The only areas where satisfaction improved were shops, eating and drinking facilities and other services at railway stations. London and south-east commuters in particular were increasingly critical of how staff assisted them and dealt with delays.
There was a decline in other areas monitored, including train speed and enough room to sit down or stand on a train. Train operator Southeastern said the scores reflected “a difficult autumn period”. David Statham, managing director for Southeastern, said: “We recognise that we have a lot more work to do to ensure that our passengers are more satisfied with the service that we provide.” He said they were investing more than £70m in the next three years and said passengers would start to see the results in coming months.
Fewer than half of passengers believed fares offered value for money, similar to the previous year. Michael Roberts, director of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said: “These results show how passenger satisfaction has been dipping after years of steady improvement and they reinforce our determination to do better.
In London and the south-east, there were declines in satisfaction with the helpfulness and attitude of staff as well as how train companies dealt with delays. “The timetable is our promise to passengers, and too often we aren’t making good on this commitment. To improve, we are working closer together as an industry to deliver better reliability so that more people can complete their journeys on time and improve information to passengers, particularly during disruption.”
Only three out of four passengers in London and the south-east were satisfied with punctuality. Unions said it was more proof that the rail system wasn’t working. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “This report throws up yet more evidence that two decades of privatisation, fragmentation and underinvestment in Britain’s railways have left passengers angry and frustrated as they see the hard cash they spend on extortionate fares drained away in profits to the train operating companies.
Rail Maritime and Transport union general secretary, Mick Cash, said: “This report throws up yet more evidence that two decades of privatisation, fragmentation and under-investment on Britain’s railways have left passengers angry and frustrated as they see the hard cash they pay over for extortionate fares drained away in profits to the train operating companies. “It is telling that satisfaction on the commuter routes into London, where there is a drive to axe guards and station staff in the name of profit, is in freefall.”
“It is telling that satisfaction on the commuter routes into London, where there is a drive on to axe guards and station staff in the name of profit, is in free fall and that should be enough to force these companies, like the new operators on Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern, to abandon their cuts plans. Labour’s shadow transport secretary, Michael Dugher, said: “Since 2010, overall passenger satisfaction with their journey is down, the percentage of passengers satisfied with punctuality is down and the percentage of passengers satisfied with value for money is also down.
“It defies belief that constantly failing train companies are allowed to hang on to their money-spinning franchises while passenger anger reaches boiling point. The only solution is to end the 20 years of private racketeering and return the whole railway to public ownership.” “At the same time, people have been hit with massive fare rises of over 20%. The government needs to get a grip. David Cameron’s approach of just sitting back and doing nothing to reform the railways is not an option.”