Member Article

Merseyrail passengers among most satisfied in the country

Merseyrail has some of the most satisfied passengers in the UK, new survey results can reveal.

The rail operator gained the third highest score in the National Rail Passenger Survey for spring 2019, reaching 90%, which is 7% higher than the national and regional averages.

Merseyrail also came second for punctuality and reliability with an impressive 90% satisfaction score, a 5% increase on last year’s results and much higher than the average of 77%.

Despite a programme of platform improvement work taking place across the network in preparation for the introduction of a new fleet of trains, the overall satisfaction score matched last autumn’s result and shows that Merseyrail passengers are still some of the most satisfied in the country.

Value for money was another factor that Merseyrail passengers felt most satisfied with, as the operator came second in the country for offering some of the most affordable train tickets.

Station staff were also praised, with some of the highest ratings coming from factors such as attitude and helpfulness of staff.

The National Rail Passenger Survey is conducted twice a year by independent consumer watchdog Transport Focus, and is the largest published rail passenger satisfaction survey in the world.

Merseyrail is consistently one of the best performing rail operators in the country – being named the most punctual from April 2018 – March 2019 with 95.51% of trains running punctually.

Speaking about the survey, Merseyrail Managing Director Andy Heath said: “These results are a great reflection of the high quality service we strive to provide to our passengers on a daily basis.

“This period has not been without its challenges, and to score so highly in factors such as punctuality, reliability and value for money – which we know are most important to our passengers – is fantastic.

“It’s a real testament to our staff who work so hard day-in, day-out to ensure our network runs smoothly – and we’re pleased to see that passengers are happy with the work they do.

“From 2020 we will see the introduction of a brand-new fleet of trains and smart ticketing rolled out across the network, so if our passengers are this satisfied now, then imagine the service we can provide in the future.”

Cllr Liam Robinson, Transport Portfolio Holder for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, said: “It’s great to see that customer satisfaction levels for Merseyrail passengers continue to be rated as amongst the highest in the country.

“We strongly believe that a big factor in this is the local management of the services through rail devolution, which allows us to work together with Merseyrail to build a network that meets the needs of the city region rail users.

“While we’re really pleased by the results, we want to keep pushing to improve further and with the new trains starting to arrive on the network in the next twelve months, we are sure that it’s only going to get better for passengers.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lauren Harmes .