Exclusive:ScotRail peak fares return triggers passenger satisfaction slump

Passenger satisfaction with ScotRail's value for money slumped after it was announced peak fares would be restored, the latest official watchdog survey showed.

Only just over half of those polled were happy with ticket prices in the autumn compared to two thirds in the spring, Transport Focus reported on Monday.

ScotRail was in the top third of train operators for overall passenger satisfaction | John Devlin/The Scotsman

However, the Rail User Survey showed overall satisfaction with the Scottish Government-owned firm improved marginally to 88 per cent and was the seventh best among 22 British train operators.

ScotRail’s score compared with 93 per cent for third-placed LNER, 85 per cent for Avanti West Coast, 79 per cent for TransPennine Express and 72 per cent for bottom-placed CrossCountry, which all operate cross-Border trains.

The Scottish Government announced in August a year-long experimental suspension of peak fares would end the following month because of only a “limited degree of success”.

The trial also masked one of the highest ticket price increases for years, of 8.7 per cent in April.

The new Transport Focus survey, conducted between September and December, showed satisfaction with value for money at ScotRail fell by 12 percentage points to 52 per cent from 66 per cent in the February-June survey and from 60 per cent in the June-September poll.

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Satisfaction with cleanliness over the same period reduced from 80 to 79 to 73 per cent.

ScotRail’s punctuality/reliability rating also slipped by one point to 78 per cent and compared to 85 per cent in the spring. But overall satisfaction edged up by one point to 88 per cent after reaching 92 per cent in the spring.

Satisfaction with crowding was also up one point to 69 per cent, but down from 78 per cent in the spring. The rating for train frequency climbed three points to 66 per cent, but was also down from 78 per cent in the spring.

Satisfaction with information provided during the journey went up one point to 76 per cent, compared to 81 per cent in the spring.

Autumn is traditionally a tough season for train operators because of delays caused by fallen leaves and the onset of more frequent extreme weather.

Meantime, the latest punctuality figures, known as the “public performance measure”, showed 85.6 per cent of ScotRail’s trains arrived at their destination within five minutes of schedule in the four weeks to December 7.

Performance over the past year was nearly 89.5 per cent compared to a target of 90.3 per cent, although the long-held overall target is 92.5 per cent.

Scottish Conservatives transport spokesperson Sue Webber said: “This survey shows pretty sharp falls on most measures, especially value for money, crowding and frequency of service.

“It’s obvious that most passengers think the SNP’s nationalisation of ScotRail, far from leading to significant improvements, has led to a deterioration in the service.”

ScotRail customer operations director Phil Campbell said: “While it’s encouraging to see almost nine out of ten customers are satisfied with ScotRail, we know there’s more work to be done.

“Our focus is building on the hard work of our people to deliver the safe and reliable railway our customers expect and deserve, and to encourage more people to travel by train instead of using the car.”