2 weeks Ago
Southern Rail has been rated as the "worst value for money" rail operator in a national passenger survey. The survey, conducted by independent public watchdog Transport Focus, asked passengers how satisfied they were with their train journeys. The results were then presented in a "train operator scorecard", which ranks each rail operator based on five categories: punctuality and reliability, crowding levels, value for money, station overall and train overall.
The ratings are combined to give an overall journey satisfaction score. Southern Rail came 16th out of 24 for overall journey satisfaction. However, they came last in two of the categories, including "value for money", which resulted in their low overall satisfaction score.
They also scored lowest in the "station overall" category, which rates how passengers feel about the stations they use. READ NEXT: Plans to turn beach toilets into cafe approved Transport Focus said: "Our scorecard highlights industry performance on the journey elements that matter most to passengers – drawing together Transport Focus satisfaction results and industry data on punctuality and cancellations and complaints. "In creating this comparative snapshot for each train operator we want to foster improvements for passengers and ultimately drive up their satisfaction.
" A spokesman for Govia Thameslink Railway, which runs Southern services, said: "We value all customer feedback and welcome this report. "Value for money is driven by the price of the tickets, which are largely regulated by government and linked to inflation and the punctuality of our trains. "Last year we introduced weekly capping on our pay-as-you-go smartcards to ensure our Southern commuters get the best-value walk-up fares, potentially saving them almost £125 a week on the route to Victoria.
"But we also know our service hasn’t always been good enough and we sincerely apologise. READ NEXT: Striking 19th century church could be at risk of demolition "Passengers rightly want trains to run on time and we are working hard both in-house and with Network Rail on joint improvement plans. "Almost eight out of ten passengers are satisfied or very satisfied with our stations but we're determined to make that even better.
"We have just signed a new cleaning contract for trains and stations that features an investment of over half a million pounds in new equipment and technology, including mobile teams of deep cleaners, ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice.".
