Laid bare: Passengers’ dissatisfaction over Yorkshire’s sardine can trains

Just 55 per cent of people said they were happy with the amount of room they had on First TransPennine Express services – the lowest figure for any operator in the country.

Northern Rail scored a 67 per cent approval rating on space for passengers, above the national average of 65 per cent.

First TransPennine Express and Northern both achieved a value for money satisfaction rating of 54 per cent, with East Coast getting 60 per cent.

Nationwide, only 45 per cent said they thought their tickets were good value.

Other findings from watchdog organisation Passenger Focus’s survey of 27,000 people between February and April this year included:

• East Coast’s overall satisfaction rating was 91 per cent, a result which saw the firm proclaiming itself as “Britain’s number one long-distance franchised train operator”;

• First TransPennine Express (86 per cent), East Coast (84 per cent) and Northern (78 per cent) all recorded higher satisfaction scores on punctuality and reliability than the national average of 77 per cent;

• The average overall satisfaction rating nationwide was 82 per cent, the same as the figure recorded for Passenger Focus’s spring 2013 survey.

Northern managing director Alex Hynes said: “These results clearly show that we’ve been listening to our customers and acting on the issues that really matter to them.”

Michael Roberts, director general of the Rail Delivery Group, which speaks on behalf of railway companies, said: “While overall levels of satisfaction remain near a record high, we are working hard to improve customer information and to offer more seats on trains as demand for services continues to grow.”