UK rail passengers more satisfied with their service than in many other EU countries – new analysis shows

24/06/2011

People making middle or long distance trips by rail in the UK are happier with their journey than most of their European neighbours, according to new analysis of EU research into passenger satisfaction.

The ‘Eurobarometer’ survey, commissioned by the European Commission, measures the satisfaction of 9,000 passengers from 25 EU countries across a range of 19 criteria, including cleanliness and upkeep of stations, ease of buying a ticket, service frequency and punctuality and reliability.

New analysis of the EU polling by the Association of Train Operating Companies shows that:-

- UK rail passengers making middle or long distance journeys were more satisfied than German passengers on all 19 criteria. The UK also scores higher than France in 15 and above Italy in 14 of the criteria measured.

- The UK is above the EU average in 17 out of the 19 aspects of train services surveyed.
 

- 87% of UK rail passengers were satisfied with reliability and punctuality – 35 percentage points higher than in Germany, 24 percentage points higher than in Italy and 21 percentage points higher than the EU average.
 

- 84% of UK passengers are satisfied with the frequency of trains – 10 percentage points higher than Germany and 12 percentage points higher than the EU average.

- 92% of UK passengers were satisfied with the length of journey time – 13 percentage points higher than France and 13 percentage points higher than the EU average.

ATOC attributes the UK’s strong results to significant improvements that have been made to services, trains and stations in recent years and a focus on the needs of passengers.

The figures provide an interesting insight alongside the more substantial National Passenger Survey, carried out twice a year by the independent watchdog Passenger Focus, which shows that over four out of five passengers are satisfied with the services that they get.

ATOC spokesperson Edward Welsh said:

“There is often a widespread perception that the rest of Europe is happier with their rail services than are UK passengers. But the European Commission’s opinion polling shows that the people surveyed in the UK were more satisfied with their train services than in many other countries on the continent.

“Significant investment in recent years has seen quicker and more punctual trains, better stations and an improved overall service for passengers in this country - something which has been reflected in successive independent customer satisfaction surveys. In terms of how passengers view middle and longer distance services, we now know that we also compare favourably with our European neighbours.

“But train companies can’t be complacent and will continue to work hard to address areas where we know that improvements need to be made.”

ENDS

Notes to editors
 

The Flash Eurobarometer “Survey on passengers’ satisfaction with rail services” (Flash No 326) was conducted to examine EU rail passengers’ satisfaction with various features of the rail services, including the trains themselves, railway stations and the rail network in their country.

The survey was conducted via telephone interviews with nationally representative samples of rail passengers (aged 15 and older) living in 25 of the 27 EU Member States. A rail passenger was defined as someone who had travelled by train within their country in the 12 months prior to the survey; passengers who had only used suburban trains or trains within city limits were excluded. Given that Malta and Cyprus have no railway networks, these countries were not included in the survey.

In most EU countries the target sample size was 400 respondents, but in Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovenia the target sample size was 300 respondents; in total, 9,708 interviews were conducted by Gallup’s network of fieldwork organisations in the period from 21 to 29 March, 2011. More details on the survey methodology are included in the Annex of the report.
 

The full report can be found here.
 

UK rank out of EU15 countries by question

UK rank
Connections to other trains 1
Journey time 2
The provision of information during the journey 2
Complaint handling mechanism 3
Personal security in the station 3
Frequency of the trains 3
Provision of information 4
Punctuality and reliability 4
Ease of buying tickets 5
Cleanliness and maintenance of station facilities 6
Connections to other modes 7
Facilities and services in stations 7
Assistance and information for disabled or elderly people 7
Car parking 8
Personal security whilst on board 8
Cleanliness and maintenance of trains 10
The seating comfort 11
Availability of staff on trains 11
Sufficient capacity for passengers on trains 13

EU 15 countries are the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

A chart showing comparative levels of passenger satisfaction with punctuality and reliability in Europe can be found here.

 

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