Overall rail passenger satisfaction on the slide

GRAND CENTRAL and Heathrow Express took the joint top spot in the twice-yearly National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS), but overall satisfaction across all train companies fell to 81%, down from 83% in spring 2017.

Conducted by Transport Focus, the two operators both achieved 95% satisfaction, with Merseyrail (92%) second, Chiltern Railways (90%) third and Virgin Trains (89%) in fourth. Southern has retained its place at the bottom of the rankings and is joined by TFL, both at 69%, while just above were Southeastern (75%), Greater Anglia (76%) and Great Northern (78%). Rail operators were widely criticised for how well they deal with delays, with only a 37% level of satisfaction, and for the value for money of fares (45%).