Chiltern Railways has announced that they have been rated top franchise operator in Which? and the National Rail Passenger Survey.
The NRPS results came out today, 29th January 2019, and names Chiltern top, just a week after they were named best franchise rail operator in the Which? 2019 Passenger Survey and highest-scoring London commuter route.
In the National Rail Passenger Survey, 92% of people said overall the Chiltern Railways service was good or satisfactory across the whole route, significantly higher than the national average of 79%.
Additionally, passengers rated Chiltern Railways as the best train company to London from Oxford and the West Midlands, with the ratings up from the previous survey.
The train operator ran over 50 ‘meet the manager' sessions across the route during the last year to ensure customers could give their feedback.
What did the officials say?
Chiltern Railways Managing Director, Dave Penney, said:
“We are thrilled that Chiltern Railways has once again been named as the top franchised rail company in the UK.
“The survey by Which? demonstrate strong scores for our punctuality, reliability, customer service and value for money from our passengers. Although we are proud of our results and welcome positive feedback, we are also committed to improving areas of our service where the NRPS has highlighted we can do better, and we're committed to investing money and resource to making our service better still.
“We are undertaking major improvement works at a number of stations including Leamington Spa, Gerrards Cross and Aylesbury throughout 2019. Work is already underway on a £465,000 project to improve Warwick Parkway with an extension of the station building, additional waiting area, improved toilets and modernisation of the booking office.
“We're proud of our performance and reliability which customers really value. We also want to remain at the cutting edge of innovation which is why in the last 12 months we've launched a new website and app, introduced automatic numberplate technology for parking and trialled clean air technology at Marylebone station.
“Chiltern Railways is always looking to improve the service we provide our customers and with the hard work of our teams, we are dedicated to further bettering our passengers' experience. This includes consistently improving punctuality and the number of train services we provide.”
Where Next?
News Homepage
For the Latest Railway News
RailAdvent Online Shop
Framed Prints, DVD's / Blu-Ray's and more
LocoStop Community
Come and share your railway pictures
Chiltern Railways
Visit their website
Talking of Parliamentary rail services, a little known piece of legislation from the Victorian era astonishingly required a station to be built wherever a road met a new rail route on the level. This in turn helps explain why there are so many railway stations scattered across the British Isles nowhere near any habitation or village.
The law of this land is sometimes a bit strange.
Chiltern Railways might even add more extra trains on busier routes and a new Parliamentary service has started from West Ealing to West Ruislip & High Wycombe that begun earlier this year.