Results of the latest National Rail Passenger Survey, which is conducted twice a year in autumn and spring, revealed Merseyrail had a 90% satisfaction rating among its passengers. Tony McDonough reports

A nationwide rail passenger survey has found people using the Merseyrail network are among the most satisfied in the country.

Results of the latest National Rail Passenger Survey, which is conducted twice a year in autumn and spring, revealed Merseyrail had a 90% satisfaction rating among its passengers – the third highest in the UK and 7% higher than the national and regional averages.

Merseyrail also came second for punctuality and reliability with an impressive 90% satisfaction score, a 5% increase on last year’s results and much higher than the average of 77%.

New fleet

The network carries 110,000 passengers on more than 600 services every weekday on its Northern, Wirral and City lines, making it one of the most intensively-used in the country.

Merseyrail is spending £450m on the introduction of a new fleet of trains next year and for the last few months has been upgrading its platforms in readiness for the change. The satisfaction survey was undertaken while this work was going on.

Value for money was another factor that Merseyrail passengers felt most satisfied with, as the operator came second in the country for offering some of the most affordable train tickets. Station staff were also praised, with some of the highest ratings coming from factors such as attitude and helpfulness of staff.

Merseyrail is consistently one of the best performing rail operators in the country – being named the most punctual from April 2018 – March 2019 with 95.51% of trains running punctually.

High quality

Managing director Andy Heath said: “These results are a great reflection of the high quality service we strive to provide to our passengers on a daily basis.This period has not been without its challenges, and to score so highly in factors such as punctuality, reliability and value for money – which we know are most important to our passengers – is fantastic.

“It’s a real testament to our staff who work so hard day-in, day-out to ensure our network runs smoothly – and we’re pleased to see that passengers are happy with the work they do.”

Merseyrail Electrics (2002) is a 50/50 joint venture company between Serco and Abellio, which has a 25 year concession agreement with Merseytravel – the transport executive body and delivery arm of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.