Which railway operator gets most complaints?
The results are in, and the most complained about railway operators in the UK have been named and shamed.
Virgin Trains West Coast has come top for the 11th quarter in a row – apparently intent on becoming the railway complaints equivalent of Ant and Dec at the NTAs.
Here are how the rest of the operators fared. (Non-franchised Grand Central and Hull Trains services are not included)
The losers
Not only did Virgin West Coast trains nab the top spot, but Virgin Trains East Coast grabbed second place as well, giving Virgin an unwanted one-two.
Even more unwanted because, as of Saturday, Virgin became the first company to offer certain passengers automatic refunds if their journey is delayed. The offer applies to anyone travelling on the Virgin West Coast line who booked their tickets through the company app or website.
Chiltern came in third with 102.2 complaints per 100,000, but also saw the biggest year-on-year jump in complaints (63%).
The winners (relatively)
Although they finished mid-table, First Great Western will be pleased to register the biggest year-on-year fall, with complaints down 31%.
London Overground can also be pleased with finishing at the bottom of the table with a mere 3.3 complaints per 100,000 passengers. Although this might have something to do with the mentality of London passengers compared with cross-country travellers.
Why were people complaining?
As anyone who travels on Britain's rail networks knows, there are plenty of things to complain about should you be that way inclined. Here are the top 10 public gripes.
1. Punctuality and/or reliability (27.9% of total complaints)
2. Ticketing and refunds (8.4%)
3. Facilities on board (8%)
4. Ticket-buying facilities (7.6%)
5. Insufficient room for passengers to sit/stand (5.2%)
6. Attitudes and helpfulness of station staff (3.8%)
7. Ticket-buying facilities – other (3.5%)
8. Helpfulness and attitude of train staff (2.6%)
9. Provision of information about train times/platforms (2.4%)
10. Type/level of compensation (2.1%)
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