The latest survey by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) reveals a continuing failure of passengers not receiving the help they had booked.

These failures will be part of the regulator’s priorities for the coming year, with each operator being benchmarked and rated on how it delivers passenger assistance, to achieve better target interventions.

Over 8,700 people took part in the “Experiences of Passenger Assist” survey. Of these, while 94% of passengers said they were satisfied with the assistance they received, the service was still not reliable with 11% of respondents reporting that they did not receive the assistance they had booked, which was similar to the 12% reported in last year’s survey.

Other results from the report include:

• 88% satisfaction with the service from booking to receiving assistance (87% in 2023-2024).
• 82% of passengers who booked assistance thought they were met in an acceptable time frame (80% in 2023-2024)
• The proportion of passengers not met remained steady at 10% in both 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.
• 78% of passengers received all the assistance they booked (76% in 2023-2024).

Among the poorest performers for reliability of assistance is Northern. ORR notes that while the operator is making good progress on delivering an improvement plan, it will continue to check whether improvements produce benefits for Northern’s passengers.

In the latest Annual Rail Consumer Report published today, Friday, 11th July, the ORR set out its priorities in making rail travel accessible during the coming year. These include the first report, to be published this autumn, in which each operator will be ranked on how well it delivers assistance, with a revised framework being published today after consultation.

The assessment of operators will include reliability, passenger satisfaction, and staff training. Additionally, the poorest-performing operators will be assessed on their capacity for improvement, how they monitor assistance delivery, and how they identify performance risks.

The regulator will continue to support operators wishing to improve how they communicate and record requests for assistance.

An update will be issued on its proposal to revise its Accessible Travel Policy guidance, so that redress claims always consider the circumstances in each case.

Network Rail’s improvement plan will also be monitored to address the reliability of lifts at its stations, with recent annual data showing a 42% increase in the number of faults across the railway network where lifts were out of service for over one week.

As part of the Department for Transport’s Plan For Change initiative, accessibility for disabled people on rail replacement coaches is set to be improved.

An announcement was made recently that the Department for Transport’s Access for All scheme has funded lifts at Irlam station in Greater Manchester.

“Ensuring that disabled passengers consistently receive the support they need to travel by train requires clear focus, collaboration and a commitment to continuous improvement. Our latest survey shows that overall passenger satisfaction has plateaued, and we know that, in some instances, assistance failures can leave passengers feeling powerless and frustrated. This new rating system will help us target our efforts and use resources effectively, focusing on working with those operators where improvement is most needed to deliver better outcomes for passengers.”

Stephanie Tobyn, ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform