Passenger satisfaction with East Midlands Trains is on the up, according to an independent passenger survey released today by national transport watchdog, Passenger Focus.

The National Passenger Survey, which covers Autumn 2009, shows that as a result of improvements made by East Midlands Trains, overall passenger satisfaction has risen to 84%, marking a 3% year on year increase.  This also takes East Midlands Trains higher than the 83% current national average for overall satisfaction, and marks a significant improvement from East Midlands Trains taking over the franchise in Autumn 2007, when overall satisfaction was just 75%.

Commenting on the results, Jake Kelly, Customer Service Director for East Midlands Trains said:  “The East Midlands Trains franchise is still relatively new, having only started in late 2007, but we have already invested more than £75 million to improve our services for passengers, and this investment programme is clearly starting to pay off.

“We are extremely pleased that passengers are starting to see some of the benefits of our improvement programme, including refurbished trains, improved stations, investment in train maintenance facilities and a new timetable which is now delivering more trains and faster journey times. 

“Our aim now is to continue to deliver our investment programme to bring further benefits for passengers, whilst striving for improvements in other areas to ensure that satisfaction continues to grow.”

East Midlands Trains also scored highly in a number of other factors relating to its train services:

  * Satisfaction with punctuality and reliability rose from 79% to 85%, marking a 6% increase from Autumn 2008.  Based on figures taken over the last year (moving annual average), East Midlands Trains is the most punctual long distance train operator in the country, with over 92% of all its trains running on time. The company has also recently been given an industry award for its improved operational performance.
  * 83% of passengers recognised East Midlands Trains improvements to journey times, marking a 4% increase from Autumn 2008. 
  * Satisfaction with the exterior cleanliness of trains continues to rise, with 69% of passengers saying they were satisfied, a significant 6% year on year increase and representative of the investment made in this area with the refurbishment of trains and investment in train maintenance facilities.