Virgin Trains West Coast tops rail complaints list
Virgin Trains West
Coast has been named as the rail operator with the highest rate of
complaints in Britain for the 11th quarter in a row.
It received
196 complaints per 100,000 passenger journeys between April and June
this year, according to regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).
Virgin said it encouraged feedback so complaints were "not the best way to measure" passenger satisfaction.
Virgin East Coast was second on the complaints list with a rate of 142.3.
Chiltern was third, with 102.2 complaints per 100,000 passenger journeys - up 63% from the same period last year.
| Most common complaints across all rail services | |
|---|---|
| Punctuality/reliability | 27.9% of total complaints |
| Ticketing and refunds policy | 8.4% |
| Facilities on board | 8% |
| Ticket-buying facilities | 7.6% |
| Space for all passengers to sit/stand | 5.2% |
Despite topping the complaints list, Virgin Trains West Coast's figure fell from 231.8 in the previous quarter.
The operator, which recently began an automatic compensation scheme
for delayed customers who booked online, said: "At Virgin Trains we
encourage people to feed back about our services and make it easier to
do so than any other train company. As a result, complaints are not
the best way to measure passenger satisfaction."
The company
added: "In the most recent independent survey by the industry watchdog,
Transport Focus, 88% of Virgin Trains passengers on the west coast
thought we provided a good service, and we are consistently at or near
the top of the long-distance operators."
ORR's analysis does not include Grand Central and Hull Trains services.
