https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/n...8.1368747104.1540202827-1541583624.1530534595
No surprise that Hull Trains have moved to number 1.
No surprise that Hull Trains have moved to number 1.
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Most Complained About TOC
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Interesting. ATW have had a large decrease and GWR have had a massive increase. The operators have had to short form services constantly for the last few years and for some reason, I thought with the introduction of new trains, GWR’s would decrease slightly.
BurtonM
Member
No surprise that the open access operators are the top two.
VTWC being so high sort of surprises me, but otherwise everything is pretty much as I'd expect, and reflective of my experiences of quality of service.
It really wouldn't surprise me if TPE was higher up the list next year. I really hope eventually get what they deserve, they get off far too lightly.
VTWC being so high sort of surprises me, but otherwise everything is pretty much as I'd expect, and reflective of my experiences of quality of service.
It really wouldn't surprise me if TPE was higher up the list next year. I really hope eventually get what they deserve, they get off far too lightly.
Maybe people dislike the new trains? When you cut away some of the favourite facilities of passengers, then complaints are probably quite likely.
I was on a Pistoia 802 recently, and most passengers boarding complained about the train in some way, seats, lights, rattles, buffet, length, etc. Imagine if they were to all complain directly to GWR, rather than just who they were travelling with!
underbank
Established Member
How come Northern Rail aren't at the top given the strikes, timetable fiasco, continued use of Pacers, etc?
A 63% increase is large though and apart from HEX the largest increase of them all - maybe they started from such a low base in the first place
BurtonM
Member
I think it's residual from the old franchise, as Serco/Abellio were actually doing a good job by the end.
Arriva are bad.
Arriva are bad.
They've had a massive increase though.
MrTurbostar170
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GTR are 5th from bottom????
OrangeJuice
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I assume that's because GTR have huge numbers of passengers, hence the per 100,000 journeys is quite low.
Also if there are lots of commuters making lots of journeys but rarely complaining (either because they think it won't make a difference or just suffer the disruption ) then that will also lower the number
DarloRich
Veteran Member
what are their metrics?
I was talking to a passenger last week who makes a lot of trips on GWR he is NOT impressed with the new trains and the level of comfort of the seats especially
bramling
Veteran Member
I suspect you're right with both of these points.
GTR's figure will also likely be masked by the Southern side, which by all accounts has been running reasonably okay recently. By contrast the GN side has been abysmal since May. The Midland side has ben somewhere in between, although of course they've been used to a poor service for years.
People probably know that complaining is a waste of time. All you get is a standard letter which doesn't actually address the problem you complained about and tells you new trains are on the way. Or if you're really lucky you get abuse off a director on Twitter.
Muenchener
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Possibly a realisation by the public that not all of Northern's issues were of their making. The failure to deliver a major infrastructure project by Network Rail had a big. impact on the Bolton corridor in terms of rolling stock available to the TOC and the ramifications of the late delivery of the timetable and the response time available to the TOC's for crew training etc.
northernchris
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Indeed, Serco/Abellio did a great job and Arriva have a long way to go to get back to those levels.
I suspect those travelling on higher value tickets are more likely to complain when things go wrong which would explain why Virgin and LNER are towards the top. I'm genuinely surprised that Transpennine Express aren't higher, even before the timetable fiasco they were bad, now they are to be avoided if possible.
I'm not exactly in the know so can someone explain why HT, HEX and GC are at the top?
AlterEgo
Veteran Member
No.
In any case the majority of twitter messages directed at TOCs are enquiries rather than complaints.
krus_aragon
Established Member
Hull Trains have had big problems with their rolling stock, which forced them to cancel many of their services for days on end while engineers tried to fix the issues.
Heathrow Express may be due to disruption caused when an IET under test shredded the overhead wires near Paddington leading to a day or two with no services, though that seems a bit too recent to show up in the figures yet.
Hull Trains and Grand Central due to the continued reliability problems with their class 180 trains. I believe Hull are running on 2 out of 5 trains at the moment. Coupled with the awful ticket acceptance (recently making people get GTR to Stevenage and a bus up to Hull) they've tanked this year badly. Grand Central are getting much better, but since their HSTs went off lease, they faced the same problems as HT, albeit to a lesser extent. They've also massively refurbished their trains so that may have actually reversed some of the negative press they got.
As for HEX, that's not my neck of the woods so I'll let someone else provide an insight into them.
They were. Northern are not first but a 63% increase is bad.
Failed Unit
Established Member
HTs no surprise.
GC - I was a little surprised about as others have said 180s reliability isn't the best but also the ECML is constantly hit with problems LNER are not covering themselves with glory.
HEX - I am not surprised about. I am more likely to complain to them as they charge so much. I have had recent experiences where they have ran just a sinlge 5 coach set in traffic. When they charge as much as they do for a "premium" service you don't expect to be crammed in like sardines. This period is probably covering the period the 332s were out of service. I have also on occasions taken so long to get from Heathrow - Kings Cross that I wish I had used the tube. Again it is a premium service so when they rob you blind you hope to get to your end point quicker than the budget alternative.
Surprised GTR isn't higher but as Bramling states although GNs level of service is, and continues to be totally unacceptable it is masked by improvements in Southern. So although we can't actually use the service any more at weekends as an example - even if we all complain it gets lost in the noise.
Class465fan
Member
How the hell is GTR 19???
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Because the passengers have just given up on any hope of complaints being properly resolved?
As for HEx - it's an expensive, premium service - I expect it to be near perfect.
Failed Unit
Established Member
I must admit I agree with both of these points,
GTR your are wasting your time complaining, claiming delay repay etc.
If you look at the recent timetable shambles - we all complained - they blamed network rail. We complained again - they told us that everything is perfect and they run more trains than they did in May (although this is franchise wide not on the part we are complaining about). They won't tell us when the weekend service will be useable. GTR don't care as they know they are untouchable. So I take the view why bother? You complain to them they give you a standard reply - but don't actually have any intention of improving as the believe it isn't thier problem. Complain to your MP - they agree with you tell you about all the meetings they have with GTR but nothing gets done. You complain to DFT - They do nothing. So unfortunately they are probably 19th as it is a waste of energy complaining.
Virgin trains are much better than GTR but probably recieve more complaints (3rd) because they know that the complaints will be taken seriously and action will be taken. GTR probably don't even read them and use computer software to create a standard letter based on keywords in the letter. Totally automated with the lack of customer focus we come to expect from GTR.
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