£70 million investment programme gets the thumbs up from rail passengers

Passengers have given the thumbs up to East Midlands Trains today (28 June) with the latest independent passenger survey showing that satisfaction with the Stagecoach-owned train operator is continuing to grow.

The results of the survey, released today by national transport watchdog Passenger Focus, show overall satisfaction has shown a year on year increase to 87%, and satisfaction has increased in 28 of the 33 categories judged by passengers.

The highest increases in passenger satisfaction relate to station facilities and the condition of the train fleet, representing East Midlands Trains’ significant investment in this area.

Overall satisfaction with stations increased by 3% to 85%, marking the train operator’s highest ever level of satisfaction with stations. In addition, passengers rated car parking facilities very highly, with satisfaction increasing by 9% year on year. Since the start of its franchise, East Midlands Trains has introduced over 1,200 new car parking spaces at its stations, and last month opened a brand new 950-space multi-storey car park at Nottingham station.

Train cleanliness also scored very highly in the latest survey, with overall satisfaction in this area increasing by 4% to 82%. Exterior train cleanliness increased by 5% year on year, whilst satisfaction with interior cleanliness went up from 79% to 83%.

One of the highest increases in satisfaction related to the upkeep and repair of East Midlands Trains’ fleet of trains. 85% of passengers said they were satisfied with this aspect of their service, marking an 8% year on year increase and representing East Midlands Trains’ £30 million fleet investment programme.

East Midlands Trains’ employees were also rated highly in the survey. Passenger satisfaction increased in all six areas directly related to employees, with helpfulness and availability of staff all showing a marked increase.

David Horne, Managing Director for East Midlands Trains, said: “It’s great news to see that our multi-million pound investment programme is continuing to make a big difference to our passengers.

“Our £30 million fleet investment programme is now drawing to a close, and this has delivered improvements to every single train we operate, and is clearly having a huge impact on our passengers.

“It’s even more pleasing to see some of the impressive increases in satisfaction with the helpfulness and availability of our people. We’ve always felt that our people are at the heart of the service we provide and it is pleasing to see this recognised by our passengers.”

For more information about East Midlands Trains, visit www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk

For a full copy of the Spring 2012 National Passenger Survey, visit www.passengerfocus.org.uk