Rail users’ answers to the multiple-choice questions give an impression of the prevalence of the different fragmentation issues...

Proportions of passengers suffering different surveyed issues:

63% have spent a long time at a ticket office or online trying to work out an economical way to make a rail journey involving more than one train company.

56% have had a long wait after a delayed train just missed a connection with a train that apparently was not held because it was run by a different operator.

53% make journeys on a route where the timetabling just misses a connection that would make the trip much better.

53% have had to buy several tickets to get to and from their destination at a better price than one simple ticket.

43% have had difficulties finding out whether their ticket was valid because different train companies operate different peak and off-peak rules.

43% have been unable to travel back by a possible alternative route because their tickets tied them to a particular train company.

36% have had to miss the first available train because their tickets were only valid on another train company’s services.

33% have found the National Rail Enquiries website failed to transfer essential ticket details to a train company’s website, and so they have had to restart from scratch using that company’s website.

28% have been told they had to talk to staff of another train company when they wanted information.

27% have found staff of one train company have been unable to advise on times or routes for which their ticket would be valid on another train company.

24% have been charged extra or had to buy another ticket because unforeseen circumstances required them to travel with a different train company.

19% have not been allowed to transfer on their existing tickets to another train company, despite disruption to trains.

16% have been refused compensation for delays due to one train company blaming another train company (or another part of the railway).

Although no single issue had been a problem for all respondents, 92% considered that the railway would work better rather than worse if it was reunited in a single organisation.