Over 50,000 passengers from across the UK had their say on rail travel which put Grand Central at the top of the league compared to the rest of the train operating companies. 

Passengers were satisfied with their value for money fares, extra space for luggage, more legroom as standard, how we deal with delays and the availability of staff to help during travel.

The average passenger satisfaction figures for other long distance operators was 86 per cent.

As well as rating Grand Central the top performing operator the Passenger Focus survey also shows how much passengers appreciate the design of Grand Central’s trains, with 93% giving a positive rating to the comfort of the seating area, 92% satisfied with personal security aboard Grand Central services and 92% satisfied with the length of time journeys were scheduled to take.
In section six of the Passenger Focus report there are details of passenger satisfaction with on-train connectivity. Grand Central recorded the highest level of passenger satisfaction for mobile reception (77%) and the second highest level for data coverage (64%) confirming that many passengers on Grand Central services take the opportunity to use the free Wi-Fi to use their travel time to work productively.

Grand Central is an Open-Access passenger train operator which means they don’t receive any subsidy from, or pay any premium to the Department for Transport. 

Grand Central say they know there areas to improve, including tackling some minor issues with cleanliness, toilets and providing more information to passengers during their journey.   They will continue to work with Network Rail to improve journey times and work with other train operating companies to provide better station facilities. 

They have recently committed to part fund station improvements at Eaglescliffe and Northallerton, on our North Eastern route and at Wakefield Kirkgate and Mirfield on our West Riding route.

Grand Central managing director, Tom Clift, said: “I am delighted that Grand Central (which also runs services from Sunderland to London) has again achieved an overall satisfaction score of 95 per cent.

“This is a ringing endorsement as well as a testament to the skill and hard work of our staff.

“The results show yet again that small really is beautiful.

“Open access operators are entirely reliant on passenger goodwill to generate income, rather than government support.

“At the same time we also know that Grand Central must maintain its focus on meeting the ever increasing customer service expectations of our passengers. To help achieve this we will continue to press Network Rail for faster journey times on our routes as well as seek enhanced facilities from those stations we serve.

“As our contribution to improving the environment of some of the stations we serve Grand Central has committed £400,000 to undertake improvement works at stations including Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Mirfield and Wakefield Kirkgate.”