Passenger Focus’s response to Network Rail’s Northern Route Utilisation Strategy Draft for Consultation

24 January 2011

The number of people travelling by rail continues to increase. Passenger journeys within the three Government Office Regions that comprise most of the area covered by the Northern Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) have grown by 92% over the ten years 1998/9 to 2008/9. Journeys between those regions and the rest of Great Britain grew by 48.5%. Performance on the railways has steadily improved and passenger satisfaction is rising. In 2009/10 Northern Rail‟s Public Performance Measure3 (PPM) was 91.6% within 5 minutes; TransPennine Express’s PPM was 92.2% within 10 minutes of on-time. Passenger Focus expects the programme of RUSs across the rail network to build on this; to allow for continued passenger growth, to further improve performance and to improve passenger satisfaction.