National Passenger Survey autumn 2011 results

Overall customer satisfaction with ScotRail has risen to 89%, according to an independent passenger watchdog.

The rating is three percentage points up on last year – and five points higher than the UK average for train operators.

ScotRail also outperformed the national average among train operators in 30 of the 33 categories.

Highlights for ScotRail in the Autumn 2011 National Passenger Survey published today by Passenger Focus include:

• Punctuality and reliability – at 86%, five points better than the UK average
• Value for money – at 59%, up two points year on year and 13 points better than the UK average
• How station staff handled customer requests rose by 15 points to 92%, six points better than the UK average for train operators, and:
• Highest ever scores included cleanliness of train interiors and toilet facilities - up eight points and 11 points respectively year on year.

The availability of on-train staff improved four points year on year - at 71%, 25 points better than the UK average, while personal security on trains rose four points to 86%, nine points higher than the average for train operators.

Steve Montgomery, ScotRail’s managing director, welcomed the improvements and said: “These results are a tribute to our workforce.”

However, he expressed disappointment that the rating on handling delays had fallen to 34%, four points below the UK average.

The survey fieldwork began on 1 September, and followed an extraordinarily wet summer which included more rainfall in just two days in August than normally seen in the entire month.

Mr Montgomery said: “There is no doubt the severe flooding which disrupted services affected this result and there is more work to do.

“From November, we began introducing the benefits of our £2million spend on winter preparations. These included new equipment to improve the flow of live travel information and to keep trains running in extreme weather.

 “We have given smartphones to more than 800 on-train staff to pass on real time information and also seen a massive increase in customers accessing our website’s new disruption information and JourneyAlert registrations.

“This work will continue, focussing on driving this score back up.”

ScotRail initiatives to keep customers better informed this winter have resulted in:

• A revamped website - attracting 4.4million monthly page impressions
• More than 34,400 people signing up for JourneyAlert, a free text travel update service
• Disruption apps downloaded by 19,000 customers
• More than 14,000 people now following our Twitter service
• A new Facebook page at www.facebook.com/scotrail, and:
• Detailed live running information at www.scotrail.co.uk/disruption.

Media enquiries:
Iain Wilson: 0141 335 4565 / iain.wilson@firstgroup.com
Carla Rinaldi: 0141 335 5156 / carla.rinaldi@firstgroup.com

Notes to Editors
The fieldwork for the Autumn 2011 survey by Passenger Focus, the independent watchdog, was conducted between 1 September and 18 November. Full details can be found on www.passengerfocus.org.uk.

Comparison Table
Extracts from ScotRail’s NPS Autumn 2011 ratings compared to national average (among UK train operators):

ScotRail runs more than 2,300 trains a day with passenger numbers up more than 25% since October 2004.

www.scotrail.co.uk