Response to Which? survey - rail companies working together with long-term plan to improve
Responding to the Which? survey of train companies, Jacqueline Starr, managing director of Customer Experience at the Rail Delivery Group, which brings together train operators and Network Rail to enable a better railway, said:
"The most recent survey of 30,000 passengers by the independent passenger watchdog Transport Focus found 83% of customers were satisfied with their journey but rail companies continue to work together with a long-term plan to change and improve services further. The partnership railway of the public and private sectors is doing more to improve journeys, better connect communities and boost the economy."
Notes to editors
Sample sizes
Which? surveyed 2,865 commuters online about their journeys by train over the last 12 months – equivalent to around 115 passengers per train company. 4.5m journeys are taken each day. Transport Focus, the independent passenger watchdog, surveys around 30,000 people with questionnaires and online, covering all types of passenger, and asks people about their last journey. Its most recent survey showed 83% of passengers were satisfied.
Which? also compares long-distance operators, which may run a limited number of services each day, with far busier commuter operators, an approach which does not compare like with like.
Compensation
Figures published recently by the DfT show that compensation payments to customers by train companies have increased fivefold in the last five years and now total almost £74m. This is in no small part the result of concerted efforts by the industry: introducing automatic compensation on some routes, running a nationwide awareness campaign and doing more to remind people to claim, sending emails, tweets, making announcements and handing out leaflets.
Punctuality
According to the government set measure for train punctuality, 88.4% of trains arrived as planned over the last year.
Cleanliness
According to the Transport Focus survey, 77% of passengers surveyed were satisfied with the cleanliness inside their train.