Rail passengers in Wales say ‘much of the same’

28 January 2020

The independent watchdog has warned that Welsh rail passengers are among the least satisfied in Britain.  

Almost eight in 10 rail passengers in Wales are satisfied with their rail services – putting Transport for Wales joint fourth from bottom in a table of rail operators. While overall scores have gone up, there was no improvement in Wales. 

Transport Focus today releases its latest National Rail Passenger Survey of almost 28,000 passengers. More than 1000 Transport for Wales passengers gave their views.  

Chief executive Anthony Smith said:  

“Almost eight in 10 Transport for Wales passengers are satisfied overall, but this score hasn’t significantly improved from last year. It is also worrying to see that the availability and helpfulness of staff in stations appears to be on a downward trend.” 

Although value for money results in Wales were slightly better than the national average at 53 per cent, only 48 per cent of weekday passengers are satisfied, which is down significantly from 57 per cent in autumn 2018.   

Satisfaction with rail across Great Britain was its lowest level in a decade in autumn 2018. However, a combination of more stable performance and new trains has seen passenger satisfaction buoyed in parts, particularly in London and the south east. 

Transport Focus will use the evidence from the survey as it continues to push for wide-scale reform of the industry, and immediate improvement in reliability for the worst-affected areas.  

Transport for Wales results (for more, please see the full report)  

 

 

Notes to editors 

• Media contact – Misha MccGwire misha.mccgwire@transportfocus.org.uk / 0300 123 0821. 
•  Transport Focus is the independent transport watchdog representing the interests of: 
  • rail passengers in Great Britain 
  • bus, coach and tram passengers across England outside London 
  • all users of England’s motorways and major ‘A’ roads (the Strategic Road Network). 

We work to make a difference for all transport users. 

•  We spoke to nearly 28,000 passengers from 2 September to 10 November 2019, and asked them to rate the journey they had just made. In Wales this time, the fieldwork period was slightly shorter, finishing on 13 October. Passengers are asked to take part online or on paper, at 700 stations and on board trains across Great Britain. We select enough passengers to be representative of the entire network. Questionnaires are distributed at different times of day and across all days of the week.  

• Across Great Britain more passengers were satisfied overall – 82 per cent, up from autumn 2018 (79 per cent).