TRAIN operator Northern’s “Creating Customer Confidence” programme is helping to deliver one of the biggest customer satisfaction turnarounds in the company’s history.
Northern has moved up from the bottom of the national rankings in Transport Focus’s latest rail passenger scorecard, in one of the clearest signs yet that the operator’s drive to rebuild passenger trust is working.
The latest scorecard shows Northern recording an overall satisfaction score of 88 per cent placing the operator towards the top of the table which ranks scores for train and station cleanliness, safety, information, punctuality and value for money.
Northern performed above the national average in several areas that matter most to customers:
• Value for money: 66 per cent – seven points above the national average of 59 per cent; one of the strongest scores of any operator in the country
• Personal safety on board: 87 per cent, above the national average of 86 per cent.
• Customer information: 89 per cent, in line with the national average
It comes as Transport Focus releases its Rail Customer Experience Survey Official Statistics, an additional set of metrics which show Northern was among the most improved train operators in the country.
Alex Hornby, Commercial and Customer Director for Northern, said: “We’re all delighted at Northern to have moved towards the top of the pack and firmly away from the bottom of this customer satisfaction table, seeing us move ahead of the national average in value for money scoring and several other areas.
“None of this happens by accident. These results are what our ‘Creating Customer Confidence’ programme was designed to deliver. Our colleagues work so hard to deliver for our customers and we appreciate the trust our customers place in us.
“We are proud of this progress but we are not stopping there. There’s more to do, and we’ll continue to listen to our customers in order to deliver real improvements where they matter most.”
Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,650 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.
