Commuters revolt over rail failures
Complaints from rail passengers rose by 146 per cent last year while the appalling service failed to improve, it was revealed today.
Constant promises that the service would get better were not met, the official national watchdog says. The largest number of complaints was lodged by passengers in the South about the high level of fares.
Meanwhile, trains continue to run late and overcrowded.
Stewart Francis, chairman of the Rail Passengers Council (RPC), accused rail chiefs of failing to honour its ?most basic? contract with passengers ? the promise to run the trains on time.
In a damning criticism of the national network Mr Francis highlights a ?demoralised? rail industry ? one that could not ?pull itself together? in the wake of the Hatfield crash in October 2000, which left the system shut down while the search continued for broken and cracked rails.
Some of the most crowded routes have still ?failed to achieve pre-Hatfield levels? of service. Train performance generally has remained ?in the doldrums? said Mr Francis in his annual report published today, and only recently had any improvements started to show.
Passenger expectations of an improved service have also been ?dampened down? as yet more red tape has emerged from the controlling Strategic Rail Authority and the setting up of Network Rail to replace Railtrack.
In some areas the service was so bad, during the year ending in March, that complaints about late trains increased by nearly a third. Mr Francis confirmed it was ?another gloomy year for passengers, where much- hoped- for improvements failed to materialise and little impact was felt by passengers?.
In southern England the overall number of complaints fell by 16 per cent ? but the section covering fares and ticketing rose by 146 per cent on the previous 12-month period.
The level of complaints by eastern England passengers rose by 34 per cent, mainly because of grumbles from City commuters about the service provided by c2c into Fenchurch Street station.
Train performance and service quality accounted for 35 per cent of complaints, while redress and reimbursement also represented 35 per cent.
The overcrowded conditions on many London commuter routes ? South West Trains, South Central, Thameslink and Silverlink ? are picked out by the watchdog as being particularly bad. All four firms had packed in more standing passengers than allowed under the regulations.
The RPC is the most influential passenger group in the country and the report is a graphic illustration of the daily misery suffered by hundreds of thousands of passengers.
?Many train companies have hauled themselves up in terms of performance. However, these improvements do not cancel out the sheer frustration that using the rail network still causes to so many passengers,? said Mr Francis.
?The basic building blocks of an industry structure that might be capable of delivering are being put in place. However, passengers are yet to really experience many of the benefits,? he added.
The RPC report also showed the number of ?void? days. This is a ?dodge? permitted by the rail authorities whereby train operators can declare a day ?void? when ?no effective service was provided?. This is when more than 10 per cent of trains are cancelled and 30 per cent seriously delayed. Such days are excluded from a train company?s overall performance statistic. The number of void days in 2001-02 was 858, five times higher than 1998-1999.
