Passengers paint picture of East England railway: c2c steams ahead

22.06.2010

Passengers travelling on trains in the East of England have rated the region’s railway as part of the independent watchdog’s National Passenger Survey (NPS).

Passenger Focus’s NPS, in which over 56,000 passengers participate each year gives, a clear indication of how satisfied passengers are with c2c, CrossCountry, East Coast, East Midlands Trains, First Capital Connect (FCC) and National Express East Anglia (NXEA) rail services.

c2c (91%) continues to be a strong performer in the survey and passenger satisfaction with value for money increased for most of the region’s operators following many fares not increasing in January. Disappointingly, FCC’s score for managing disruption plummeted 10 points to only 24%. While NXEA (77%) overall satisfaction score has remained static, other train companies in London and the South East generally improved by around two per cent.

Ashwin Kumar, Passenger Focus rail director, said: “These results show a pretty good picture of the region’s railway. However, the gulf between the likes of c2c (91%) and smaller operators like Grand Central (94%) compared with First Capital Connect (76%) is wide.

“The independent publication of this comparative data is one of the most cost effective ways of driving improvements on the railway. As operators vie with each other for pole position it also allows valuable comparisons between routes and the widely different scores operators achieve for various aspects of their services. For example, for National Express East Anglia there is a wide variation in satisfaction ratings ranging from 83% in the rural services to and from Norwich, Ipswich and Cambridge, to 73% on the services between London and Ipswich. This includes those trains serving Clacton, Harwich, Walton, Sudbury and Braintree.”

Passenger Focus is now working with train companies to improve those areas passengers have identified as being problematic.

Ends

Notes to editors

1. The full National Passenger Survey Spring 2010 results are available to view at Spring 2010

Train company summary results can be reviewed at Passenger satisfaction revealed

2. Media enquiries regarding this release should be addressed to:
Krista Hamblin
Press officer
0300 123 0821/07918 626 045
krista.hamblin@passengerfocus.org.uk

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