– Ninety percent of customers very satisfied or satisfied with ScotRail service
– ScotRail seven points above the national average
– Helpful staff, ticket buying facilities and station satisfaction show big rises
– ScotRail aims higher with largest ever train improvement programme

A record-equalling ninety percent of rail customers said they are very satisfied or satisfied with the service provided by ScotRail, according to the latest National Rail Passenger Survey.

The figure, released today by Transport Focus, represents a three percent increase on similar figures compared to Spring 2015. The results place ScotRail seven points above the national average of eighty three percent.

This is the first survey to contain data collected after Abellio took over the ScotRail franchise on 1 April 2015.

Key points from the report show increased satisfaction in the following areas:

– Helpfulness of both station and on train staff rises by four points and six points respectively
– Satisfaction with ticket buying facilities up four points
– Overall satisfaction with stations now improved by four points

Phil Verster, managing director of the ScotRail Alliance said:

“When people think about the railway, it’s often about the trains and the track. As important as these are, the reality is that the railway is only as good as the people who make it work. These figures show that we are incredibly fortunate here in Scotland to have thousands of people who work on our trains, in our stations and in our depots who are so obviously dedicated to delivering a good service for our customers.

“We are absolutely determined to give the people of Scotland a railway that they can be proud of. To do this, we cannot sit back and relax for a moment. So, while this rise in customer satisfaction is great news it only drives us to work even harder.

“Over the next couple of years we are delivering ScotRail’s biggest ever train improvement programme and new faster, longer, greener trains will be introduced in 2017. We will be refurbishing huge swathes of our current fleet and introducing great benefits like enhanced wifi and at-seat power sockets. This means more seats, shorter journey times and a better experience for our customers.

“That is what our customers want. That is what we will deliver for them.”

Dominic Booth, managing director of Abellio UK, said:

“The entire team in ScotRail should be very proud of this achievement, especially in the first year of the franchise. It’s never easy to get these kind of results at the best of times, but to get them in the transition year when the franchise hands over to the new operator is an excellent performance.

“The best judge of what we do and therefore the most valuable is what our customers say and these results are therefore a testimony to the hard work of all our staff and I say well done to them all.”