IRR Chair, Anthony Smith took to the stage at this year’s European Transport Conference (ETC) “More, happier passengers. The role of value for money in driving rail passenger satisfaction”.
Rail journeys are at their highest level in over a century, but revenue and passenger satisfaction with value for money haven’t kept pace. Anthony’s paper draws on Transport Focus and Rail Customer Experience Survey data to show that value for money and punctuality are top passenger priorities — yet remain the areas where the railway performs worst, with just 59% of passengers satisfied on value for money.
The paper argues that competition — including in the rail retail market, where independent retailers save passengers money through split-ticketing and help them find the best fares — has a proven track record of improving value and service for passengers. As Great British Railways takes shape, keeping that competitive retail market alive will be key to delivering better outcomes for passengers.
