GET CROSSCOUNTRY TRAINS ON TRACK Passenger Dossier
The Which? train survey is conducted annually via an independent poll of 7,415 members of the general public. The survey asks about overall satisfaction over the last 12 months and also asks the likelihood to recommend the brand to a friend. The combination of these scores gives our customer ratings. Passenger satisfaction with trains is low across the board, but people rarely complain to the operators. In our latest trains survey CrossCountry Trains scored 52% coming 8th out of 19.
What CrossCountry Trains can do 1 2 3 4 Listen and respond to feedback to improve service for passengers. Specifically, to address: onboard experience, crowding and tickets Provide passengers with the mechanism to feedback online and ensure this is easy to find from outside the CrossCountry Trains site. Make sure that the escalation process for dealing with complaints is clearly referenced when asking for passengers feedback. CrossCountry Trains social media accounts should advertise the hours they are staffed and complaints raised via social media should be recorded the same as complaints raised by other means. WHICH? GET CROSSCOUNTRY TRAINS ON TRACK. 3
Passengers stories This dossier provides a selection of the hundreds of consumer comments, positive and negative, that we have received since launching the campaign. The satisfied passengers: Passengers didn t just share their complaints with our campaign, 13% of comments were positive stories praising the services of CrossCountry Trains. We want to work with you to make sure more of your passengers have positive stories to share, for one TOC 46% of comments we received were positive. Had to sort out pre-booked seating once - not comfortable looking at plastic bulkhead for seven hours, sorted by train manager. So, basically 11 out of 10! Mike Good, but I don t use them at peak times maybe a different situation then. John Very well mannered staff, brilliant service, and everytime I made the journey (Stockport to Bristol) has always been punctual and ontime Michael Excellent service - On time to the minute Leamington Spa to Bournemouth return. John Delayed once, southbound from Newcastle to Totnes by about two hours, missing last bus Totnes to Kingsbridge. Compensated by two free trips for two, north and southbound, on the same trip. Brilliant and certainly no grounds to complain! Mike 4. WHICH? GET CROSSCOUNTRY TRAINS ON TRACK
The onboard experience: 49% of comments related to passengers onboard experience. Crowding was a top issue across for passengers of many train operating companies, for you it represented 21% of comments. We received complaints of packed trains or, in some cases, of people not even being able to get on at all. On their last journey with CrossCountry Trains 9% reported they had to stand. Crowding Consistently overcrowded using carriages showing their age - worn out seats and missing facilities. Kim On-board was good. I have never had to stand (I reserve a seat) but I have seen people standing at a busy time. I would have thought that there could be extra provision for predictable busy peaks. Dorothy Overcrowded only four carriages two of them first class standing room only. Richard I regularly travel to Birmingham from Stamford. The 18.22 is the first return train available on an offpeak ticket. It comes in as six coaches but then three are dropped. This means invariably the train leaves with standing room only. Diana You can never get a seat even though you pay a high fare. Helen I find it remarkable that on overcrowded trains they still attach up three first class carriages, even though less than five per cent of the passengers actually use them. Daniel The train going to from Glasgow to Darlington was overcrowded with people standing and luggage all over the place including passageways, so bad the trolley service couldn t get through the train. The return to Glasgow was worse as the seat reservation service had been suspended. Anne Complaint is lack of carriages / seats. I use this service from Leamington Spa to Birmingham International regularly and the four or five carriages are always full with people standing in the aisles and door area. My wife and I recently brought on two heavy suitcases (20kg each) going to and from Leamington Spa to the airport and the only place to put ourselves and luggage was by the door which already had other people include two infants. This particular time I felt it was a health & safety issue with large cases next to small children. It s the same time after time on this route (Bournemouth to Manchester). It s just not good enough and a very poor service. Vince WHICH? GET CROSSCOUNTRY TRAINS ON TRACK. 5
The onboard experience: Cleanliness I always try to avoid CrossCountry and Virgin Trains travelling to and from Edinburgh because they smell disgusting. It seems to be a problem with their sewage tanks in one particular generation of rolling stock. Margaret I took a return journey to Peterborough from Birmingham 20/02/14. The toilet smelt strongly of urine on the outward journey and on return a faint smell of urine pervaded the carriage. All the seat armrests needed cleaning of ingrained dirt. Linda Other onboard stories CrossCountry services are invariably late but this is not always their fault because they encounter slow trains in the way. The seats in the carriages are really uncomfortable and I usually have a sore back the day after travelling. I try to travel to the Midlands via London in order to avoid CrossCountry whernever this is possible. The Wi-fi on my iphone never seems to work on a CrossCountry train. Kevin My partner and I travelled to Bath for the weekend. Three out of the four connections ran late. The journey from Bristol to Bath was uncomfortable to say the least. It was delayed by 20 minutes even though it was on time when we boarded. We sat in a dirty carriage, surrounded by several drunks, and not an employee in sight on the train. Just not good enough. Karen Poor service all round. Robin Two of us were booked on the 07.23 train from Exeter to return the same day on the 17.53 from Derby. Because of the flooding at Bridgwater, we had to leave an hour earlier on a Rail Replacement Bus catch the booked train at Bristol Parkway and on the return journey caught the 16.53 from Derby rather than the intended train so that we could connect in to service buses at Exeter. We had bought anytime tickets, but because of the flooding we could have saved considerably since ticket restrictions were lifted - unfortunately we were not given any indication as to when this would cease and thus we did not have the opportunity to replace these tickets with better value ones. Each leg of the journey took an hour longer than had been anticipated, so we should be eligible under the Delay Repay scheme. The booked seats on what would have been the 07.23 from Exeter St David s which we were bused to at Bristol Parkway were not reserved. It was only a four car set and very busy, luckily we did find seats, but it was further hassle that we could have done without. 6. WHICH? GET CROSSCOUNTRY TRAINS ON TRACK
The onboard experience: On the return journey which took considerably longer than anticipated we needed to have something reasonable to eat - bear in mind we had left an hour earlier than anticipated as well - the trolley came round before Birmingham with nothing more than crisps & biscuits; the trolley was replaced at Birmingham and again it had nothing more substantial than crisps or biscuits; a third trolley came on at Bristol, by which time we were starving, and guess what - nothing more substantial than crisps and biscuits. I politely pointed out to the catering assistant concerned that we had travelled all the way from Derby and had not had the opportunity to purchase anything decent to eat, she said that it was company policy not to load sandwiches etc in the afternoon - if that is the case, then shame on you CrossCountry Trains; perhaps you will be reintroducing refreshment stops. Quite frankly why is this allowed to happen and I do believe that you are breaking various parts of the passenger charter by doing that. In fairness to the catering assistant, she came back to us later in the journey, having found a burger which she heated up for us, it was appreciated and she does deserve credit for that. Guy So many things I could say about this company, but probably my favourite experience was when I was accused of stealing the on board Wi-Fi by a member of the train crew. Rob They just won t look after cyclists and their bikes. People are left fighting over too few allocated spaces. There seems to be a profound dislike of those who are trying to be green and help the environment by using public transport and pedal,power. Why didn t which deal with provision for cyclists? Emma Dirty overcrowded carriages. Filthy toilets, no loo paper or soap paper towels etc. Lack of refreshments available and staff that couldn t care less. Either too hot or too cold. fay WHICH? GET CROSSCOUNTRY TRAINS ON TRACK. 7
punctuality: 10% of comments were about punctuality. While there are some factors, for example overrunning engineering works and the weather, that are beyond the control of train operating companies, Network Rail estimate that train operating companies are responsible for around a third of delays. Travelling from Telford on 09/02 14 to York my Arriva train to Birmingham was half an hour late, therefore I missed my connection to York. The later train was further delayed at Leeds, resulting in us arriving in York two hours later than planned. The train was full and therefore it was not a good customer experience. TERRY Delays both ways before Christmas caused by jumpers on to tracks, fatalities led to crazy delays without any recompense. IAN When I used to go to Oakham in Rutland to see my then girlfriend, often getting there was smooth although at times they was actually late & leaving the train back to Leicester 9/10 times the train would have issues. It d either be cancelled resulting in delays or it d continue through. JOSh 8. WHICH? GET CROSSCOUNTRY TRAINS ON TRACK
Communication: 13% of comments related to communication. Numerous passengers told us that simply not knowing what was going on was more frustrating than the delay itself. And although our research found few people do complain, those who do are often left dissatisfied with the process. Information Whilst it is helpfui to be told of a delay, I particularly hate being being told that the delay is due to a fatality I feel that is too much information and distressing. I once said as much to a train manager and was put in my place! Dorothy The train was delayed over an hour; the Train Manager eventually told us some sob story, but at very infrequent intervals. It was if he thought we were imbeciles who couldn t be trusted with the truth. Graham Complaints handling My regular commute train journey should take forty minutes, and I pay nearly 400 per month for this. It should take 40 minutes, but is usually at least 10-15 minutes longer, meaning I lose an hour or more a week with family getting home late. Over a week, I am delayed by about 20% additional time from what it should take. However, I can rarely claim any money back because the train makes up time before its final destination, and it is rarely delayed by more than 30 mins on any given day. CrossCountry don t recognise these persistently poor performing short leg journeys as meriting compensation as their charter only pays if one disastrous journey, or trains that don t make up time later in their run (on a leg irrelevant to me, but the only way they ll give a season ticket discount). I have to pay a lot of money, and have no means of holding crosscountry to account for a persistently poor service. I would also like them to publish open data on performance on the arrival times at each station for all journeys, so we could see how they perform. Chris WHICH? GET CROSSCOUNTRY TRAINS ON TRACK. 9
Ticketing: Many passengers are confused by over-complicated ticketing systems and frustrated by ticket machines. 15% commented about tickets. The ticket booking system is terribly confusing; how are you to know who to book your tickets with? Google train ticket and you re in a minefield; I was going to Birmingham from Blackburn or Manchester Piccadilly; tried and tried to work out the best way - gave up, and booked Piccadilly to New St - and got it wrong; the online booking system is so difficult, complicated and confusing, I had clicked the wrong time. Then tried to correct it - impossible; the only way was to write to them, and pay a 10 fee; it was cheaper to re-book. And booking fees are an abomination too - should be banned. I am going to London next month and am beggared how /who/ to book with, or from where? david Ticket prices were excellent - but I book on-line, well ahead. dorothy I bought an annual ticket at 4600+, Exeter to Bristol in Aug 13, from Exeter ticket office which is run by First Great Western although the train service I use for my commute is CrossCountry. In December was informed that works on the track meant there would be replacement buses for three weeks, adding an hour each way to the journey, already one and a half hours door to door. I asked for an extension to my season ticket for three weeks as I would have to find alternative ways of working - I cannot commute two and a half hours each way with commitments I have at home. I believe that I should have been warned of potential works (assuming they are planned well in advance) at the point of purchase. I have been informed that they will not give any compensation. Both First Great Western and CrossCountry say the other is who I should pursue. Very frustrating and expensive as I haven t used the service for three weeks. lindsey If I purchase a return ticket from Chesterfield to Bracknell it will cost me 170. If I buy Chesterfield-Derby-Birmingham-Banbury- Reading-Bracknell it costs 70 and I travel on the same trains. The time taken booking is a pain, but if you collect from the ticket machines at the station they require you to insert your credit card five times, enter a total of 40 alphanumeric characters password, and then issues you with a total of 23 tickets! Whilst this is not very green, it also demonstrates that the security around collecting tickets is considerably out of proportion to the risk. A four digit number gives me 250 from my bank so why the need for such large alphanumeric codes. The only risk is that someone has stolen my credit card that I used to purchase the tickets, happened to know I was going on a rail journey, happened to want to go on the same journey, and effectively avoided paying for their travel (no additional costs incurred by the rail company). CARl 10. WHICH? GET CROSSCOUNTRY TRAINS ON TRACK
Ticketing: Train fare for a single from lichfield Trent valley to Cardiff went from 23 to 33 then 58 within two days, trains were dirty very well worn and tired. ClARE I booked tickets online with CrossCountry to travel from Wolverhampton to Reading. I went with Advance tickets because of the cheaper price they offered - at a time when money is tight - and was led to believe that, like all Advance tickets, they are amendable. But, unknown to me (and not made at all clear on the website), if you print your tickets off at home, the ticket is not amendable. Absolute disgrace that cross country keep rising ticket prices but still provide the same appalling services of over crowded trains, minimal cartridges and late arrivals. daniel Now this wouldn t have been a problem... except for the fact that CrossCountry charge customers to print off tickets at the ticket machines. No other company I have come across (and I have travelled with many different train companies) charge extra for using this service. It s disgraceful, and I have vowed to never use CrossCountry trains again. RObERT WHICH? GET CROSSCOUNTRY TRAINS ON TRACK. 11
Conclusion The responses we ve received - and support for our get Trains on Track campaign - only provide a snapshot of passengers concerns about their daily rail journeys. However, the sample of comments provided underlines how strongly passengers feel about these issues and why we d encourage you to respond. What CrossCountry Trains can do now outline to us how you will address our findings by sharing the actions you intend to take over the coming year to improve passenger satisfaction; in particular how you will pro-actively encourage, listen to and respond to feedback, improving services for customers. How we can help We can share your plans directly with our members and supporters, as well as working with you on the details of changes, helping to announce those changes and supporting your communication with current and future passengers. for further details about the Get Trains On Track campaign visit: www.which.co.uk/trains