FGW passengers 'least satisfied in county' (From Witney Gazette)

FGW passengers 'least satisfied in county'

6:00am Wednesday 30th January 2013 in News

FIRST Great Western passengers are the least satisfied rail travellers in Oxfordshire, according to the latest UK survey.

The Passenger Focus survey shows the 83 per cent satisfaction rate for FGW, which runs trains between Oxford and London Paddington, is the lowest of the three that run services in the county.

Chiltern Railways had the highest approval rate in Oxfordshire with 91 per cent, while CrossCountry saw 85 per cent of passengers happy.

FGW came joint fourth from bottom of the national table of 23 operators. Its rating was also below the London and South East overall satisfaction figure of 85 per cent.

FGW spokesman James Davis said: “Given the current level of infrastructure projects across our network, we’re pleased to have been able to maintain our customer satisfaction levels across the network.

“It is clear there is still more for us to do – particularly, working with Network Rail to help them overcome infrastructure challenges; and working with the Department for Transport to secure additional capacity.

“Despite the lack of availability of additional trains in the UK, in the past three years we have worked with the DfT to secure 90 additional carriages, adding around 10 per cent more space on trains for customers.”

Passenger Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said of the overall findings: “Passengers are saying the quality of rail services is improving. The combination of increased income from fares, government investment and a clearer focus on performance and dealing with disruption is beginning to pay off.”