Rail Satisfaction Survey

19 July 2022

Our previous work in autumn 2021 showed that, in principle, passengers can be recruited face-to-face at railway stations. Most can then be directed to an online survey which they will complete soon afterwards.

This subsequent pilot built on this with two core objectives:

1. To estimate the likely productivity of fieldwork, to facilitate budgeting and resource planning in advance of setting up a live survey if this methodology is adopted.
2. To further understand some elements of the approach in more detail.

The trial was conducted in two different Network Rail regions – the Southern region and Scotland. The reports below provide details on how the survey was carried out, the responses we received and what we learnt from the trial.

This work was done when we were aiming to modernise the National Rail Passenger Survey. However since then the industry (including Transport Focus) is working on creating one industry-wide measure of passenger satisfaction.

Learnings from all of this work will now contribute to a new, joint survey programme currently in development from 2022. This will be delivered in partnership with the Department for Transport, Great British Railways, Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group.