Satisfaction levels falling among rail users on Yorkshire services

CrossCountry, East Coast, First Transpennine, Grand Central and Northern Rail all saw the share of their passengers describing services as satisfactory or good fall last autumn.

But passengers on First Hull Trains and East Midlands Trains had happier customers compared to the same period last year.

First Transpennine Express saw the share of passengers satisfied their tickets represent value for money fall four percentage points to 57 per cent while the number happy with punctuality fell eight points to 74 per cent.

There was no change in Northern Rail passengers’ views on the value for money of their ticket despite the introduction of new evening peak fares in September.

However the research by rail passenger group Passenger Focus began before the new fares were introduced.

Nationally, satisfaction with rail services has fallen.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of Passenger Focus, said: “Rail passengers’ satisfaction is driven by getting trains on time. Many are being let down - fare increases, billions in Government investment and promises of improvement don’t seem to be delivering change on the ground.

“Passengers do not care who is to blame for things going wrong and for some of them the timetable is a work of fiction. If it really is the case that better day-to-day performance can’t be achieved, then an honest, open debate is now needed so that passengers might be able to trust the promises made by the industry again.”