Travellers let off steam as rail scores hit buffers
HARD-PRESSED COMMUTERS in Yorkshire are continuing to bear the brunt of rail delays and overcrowding, a new survey has found.
More than a quarter of passengers who travel to work by Northern Rail said they were dissatisfied with the service, the watchdog Transport Focus said.
Only 71 per cent of commuters declared themselves satisfied – a score lower than that for business and leisure travellers.
Among all passengers, well under half (41 per cent) thought Northern had dealt well with delays – a figure lower than the previous year.
Lack of information, shortage of seats, value for money and the state of toilets were other common complaints, and one passenger in five complained of unhelpful staff.
Overall, 81 per cent of Northern passengers said they were satisfied with their journeys – a drop of three percentage points over the last two years.
On Virgin East Coast, which runs services from York, Leeds and Doncaster to London, the overall satisfaction rate was 91 per cent, but among commuters the figure fell to 83 per cent.
Value for money, seating availability and the state of on-board toilets were common complaints on Virgin.
Hull Trains, which also serves the capital, was the highest performing company, with a 97 per cent satisfaction rating.
TransPennine Express trains recorded an overall satisfaction rating of 84 per cent, but only 75 per cent among commuters.
Across all rail companies, satisfaction suffered a “significant decline” over the past 12 months, Transport Focus said.
Public transport campaigners claimed the results showed more emphasis should be given to short-term investment projects.
Lianna Etkind, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “This survey confirms passengers are paying through the nose for a shoddy service, and the Government appears not to care as long as the money keeps rolling in.
“There is no point spending billions on increasing capacity whilst ignoring smaller scale investment in reliable infrastructure.”
Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: “The results around the country are disappointing.”
Jacqueline Starr, of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said: “We know we must do better. We’re sorry when customers don’t get the service they expect.”
She added: “Everyone is working hard to make train journeys better from start to finish.”