Grand Central voted passengers' champion

Grand Central has once again taken top honours for passenger satisfaction in a national survey of rail users.

Transport Focus today (30th January) released figures for its twice yearly National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) for Autumn 2017. Grand Central was ranked No. 1 for overall journey satisfaction, and was also rated best value long distance train operator for the sixth year running.

The NRPS news comes hot on the heels of research published by consumer champion Which? last week, placing Grand Central as the highest rated train operator amongst British leisure and commuter travellers.

The National Rail Passenger Survey reveals that 96% of Grand Central’s passengers were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with their journey, placing the train operating company in top spot for overall satisfaction, ahead of national average figures of 84% for all train companies and 89% for long distance operators.

The NRPS results show that the most satisfied customers in the country are those who travel from the North East and Yorkshire to London, where there is a choice of three train companies, including Grand Central. These companies were also the highest rated for value for money amongst long distance operators, with Grand Central leading the pack. Grand Central achieved a value for money rating of 74% compared with a national average of 52% and an average of 62% for long distance operators.

Richard McClean, Managing Director at Grand Central, said: “It’s fantastic that we’ve been named as the No 1 train company in the country in this latest survey, and we’re particularly pleased to have achieved our best ever overall satisfaction rating of 96%.

“It’s a real achievement that we’ve been ranked as the Britain’s best value long distance operator for passengers, a title we’ve held for the sixth year running.

“Customer satisfaction is what matters to us, and we know we need to keep ticket prices affordable too. We pride ourselves on listening to what our customers want and we make real efforts to understand what they need. We’re always keen to take on passenger feedback, but more importantly we act on it. Where it’s practical, our customers appreciate having a choice of operators, and it is clear that the opportunity for passengers to choose between train companies helps drive higher passenger satisfaction levels than on other routes.

“We’re proud of our track record but we’re always striving to do things better so we can deliver more benefits for our passengers and deliver great quality services at the heart of communities we serve.

“We’re already in the process of refurbishing all our trains, and we’ll be bringing more trains into service over the next 12 months, as well as investments in online systems and improvements to stations on our North East and West Riding routes.”

Grand Central, part of the Arriva group, is an established train operator which provides direct rail connections between towns and cities in Yorkshire and the North East and London.

To find out more about Grand Central, please visit www.grandcentralrail.com or follow the railway company on Twitter @GC_Rail, Facebook or LinkedIn.

Footnote:

The NRPS results show that the most satisfied customers in the country are those who travel from the North East and Yorkshire to London, where there is a choice of three train companies: Grand Central, Hull Trains and Virgin Trains East Coast. The same three companies were also the highest rated for value for money amongst long distance operators, with Grand Central leading the pack.

Notes to editors:

Grand Central Railway Company Limited is an established train operator which provides direct rail connections from towns and cities in Yorkshire and the North East England with London.

Established in 2007, Grand Central celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017. Customer satisfaction levels are consistently high and the rail company has just been named Britain’s best value rail operator for the 6th year in a row.

Grand Central operates West Riding Services between Bradford Interchange, Low Moor, Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield Kirkgate, Pontefract Monkhill, Doncaster and London King’s Cross. The rail operator also operates North East services between Sunderland, Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Thirsk, York and London King’s Cross.

Grand Central is part of the Arriva group, one of the leading providers of passenger transport in Europe. Arriva employs more than 60,000 people and delivers over 2 billion passenger journeys across 14 European countries each year.

For further information, please contact:

Sarah Banks/Anna Hodgson
PR Account Director
0191 261 4250
GrandCentral@gardiner-richardson.com
sarahb@gardiner-richardson.com