Satisfaction with ScotRail slumps to a 14-year low

ScotRail saw its satisfaction rating slump to lowest level since 2002 (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Passenger satisfaction with ScotRail has slumped to a 14-year low.

Watchdog Transport Focus said its rating had “significantly declined” to the worst level since 2002 in the latest National Rail Passenger Survey.

The proportion of customers who were happy with the service fell to 83 per cent last autumn. This compares to 87 per cent in spring last year, and 90 per cent in autumn 2015.

By contrast, Scotland-London operator Virgin Trains East Coast scored 91 per cent – its best figure for three years.

The figures came as a further blow to ScotRail, whose punctuality is still below acceptable levels, four months after ministers ordered improvements.

Transport Focus said the figure was last as low as 83 per cent in autumn 2002.

However, ScotRail’s rating was still two points above the British average of 81 per cent. Virgin Trains’ west coast services scored 90 per cent, and CrossCountry and TransPennine Express 84 per cent.

ScotRail’s least happy passengers were in Strathclyde, with 81 per cent satisfied.

Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: “These are disappointing results and a departure from ScotRail’s previous good performance.”

The biggest fall in satisfaction was in how ScotRail deals with delays, a chronic Achilles heel for the operator for more than a decade. Just 38 per cent of those polled were happy, down 13 points on autumn 2015 and five points on spring 2016.

Other big falls in satisfaction were in train toilets, station ticket offices, station staff helpfulness and parking.

Scottish Conservative shadow transport spokesman Liam Kerr said: “It’s been clear for some time now that commuters are fed up needing to part with their cash for train services that are so often delayed or overcrowded.”

Scottish Labour transport spokesman Neil Bibby said: “Today’s survey confirms Scotland’s commuters think ScotRail’s performance has gone downhill since the SNP handed the contract to Abellio.”

Departing ScotRail Alliance managing director Phil Verster said: “Everyone who works on Scotland’s railway will be disappointed by these results.

“However, they come on the back of a difficult year for our customers. Operating a busy and complicated network is challenging at the best of times – and we are doing so during one of the largest investments in modernisation since Scotland’s railway was built in Victorian times.”