UK rail customers prefer Airport Expresses
Passenger Focus, the independent national rail consumer watchdog, published its 2008 Autumn passenger survey this week.
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Heathrow Express (93%) and Gatwick Express (93%) achieved the top scores in the survey. According to Richard Brown, Managing Director of the global air-rail experts North Star Consultancy, the airport express trains receive the highest customer satisfaction rate because they deliver what they promise. “It is the sheer utility of these services which make them popular with the travelling public. They are reliable and do exactly what they promise. When you add in award-winning customer service that exceeds the customers' expectations you can see why cities all over the world are emulating them,” said Brown. |
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Gatwick Express (GE) received top score in the past 12 surveys, with 300,000 passengers surveyed over the past six years all voting GE as the best train company in the country.
“In this wave of the National Passenger Survey Gatwick Express had only just come under the stewardship of Southern and the results show that this famously friendly train brand remains a firm favourite with the UK rail passenger,“ explains Gareth Jones, Head of Customer Service of GE.
Gatwick Express is operated by Southern since 22 June 2008.
“We employ 300 staff, some of whom are multilingual to help meet, greet and help foreign travellers at Victoria and Gatwick Airport stations,” Jones ads.
Heathrow Express (HE) holds the record for highest ever score of the National survey, when in Autumn 2006 its customer satisfaction peaked at 96%.
“After ten years of working with some of the most demanding customers in the world it is gratifying that the company as a whole has consistently raised their standards to achieve these excellent results. With such a short journey time, it takes highly skilled staff to exceed the expectations of our customers and make an impact, which results in the top score,” commented the survey Brian Raven, Managing Director of HE.
Passenger Focus consults 50,000 passengers a year to produce the National Passenger Survey (NPS) which reveals a nationwide picture of passengers' satisfaction with rail travel.
| Train Company | National Survey Rate |
| Gatwick Express |
93% |
| Heathrow Express |
93% |
| c2c |
90% |
| Chiltern Railway |
90% |
| First ScotRail |
90% |
| Merseyrail |
90% |
| Heathrow Connect |
88% |
| National Express East Coast |
88% |
| South West Trains |
87% |
| Arriva Train Wales |
86% |
| Regional |
86% |
| Cross Country |
84% |
| Long Distance |
84% |
| Virgin Trains |
84% |
| First TransPennine Express |
83% |
| Southern |
83% |
| London South East |
82% |
| Northern Rail |
82% |
| East Midlands |
81% |
| First Great Western |
80% |
| London Midland |
80% |
| Southeastern |
80% |
| First Capital Connect |
77% |
| London Overground |
77% |
| National Express East Anglia |
77% |
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