CrossCountry Receives Lowest Passenger Satisfaction Score
Train operator CrossCountry has been urged to enhance its service after receiving the lowest rating in a recent passenger survey. According to Transport Focus, during the three months ending in March, 72% of CrossCountry's stops at stations were made within three minutes of the scheduled time, while 7% of its services were cancelled. The Birmingham-based operator is owned by the Arriva Group.
Transport Focus reported that 79% of surveyed passengers expressed satisfaction with CrossCountry overall, 77% were satisfied with the punctuality and reliability of their journeys, and 46% were content with how the company managed delays.
The operator acknowledged the need for improvement, stating it recognized the necessity to "do more to deliver the service our customers rightly deserve," despite some slight progress in certain areas.
Transport Focus has called on CrossCountry to improve the passenger experience by reducing delays, providing better information during disruptions, and alleviating overcrowding on its services.
In contrast, Hull Trains achieved the highest overall satisfaction score at 94%, followed closely by LNER at 93%. Overall, 87% of passengers reported satisfaction with their journeys. However, disabled passengers indicated lower satisfaction levels than non-disabled passengers, with 85% expressing satisfaction.
The survey involved more than 100,000 passengers over the six months leading up to the end of March.
Addressing the Crowding Challenge
CrossCountry operates long-distance trains connecting cities including Cambridge, Cardiff, and Manchester. Mark Anderson, CrossCountry's customer and commercial director, highlighted ongoing improvements, noting that refurbished trains are "transforming" journeys and a new timetable is "delivering better regional connectivity across the country."
"We're always working to improve onboard experience – from cleaning to catering, better wi-fi and clearer information during disruption.
In particular, we know that crowding is a challenge and we're working with industry partners to explore all possible options to ease this."
Alex Robertson, chief executive of Transport Focus, described the report as the first of its kind and expressed optimism that the railway industry understands the importance of using the findings to foster a more customer-focused culture. He emphasized that the watchdog will hold operators accountable to ensure improvements are made.
"This is the first report of its kind.
I'm optimistic the railway understands the importance of using it to create a more customer focused culture and we'll be holding them to account to make sure they do."
Robertson also noted the significant impact of how delays are managed on passenger experience, stating that more than 90% of passengers would report a positive experience if a delay is handled well, despite the inconvenience. However, satisfaction drops sharply to one in four when delays are not managed effectively.
"The chief executive also stated more than nine in 10 people would report a positive experience if a delay was 'handled well – a remarkably high figure given their train is late – but this falls to one in four when it isn't'."
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