Most complaints related to punctuality, with hundreds of trains cancelled

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Rail passenger complaints rose sharply during the chaos caused by new timetables, figures show.

The rate of complaints to Northern and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) increased by 63% and 23% respectively between April and June compared with the same period last year, data from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) shows.

Both firms’ services were crippled on many routes when new timetables were introduced on 20 May, with the number of daily trains cancelled reaching 470 for GTR and 310 for Northern.

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The timetable change was intended to deliver huge benefits to passengers as a result of major upgrades to the network.

GTR’s chief executive Charles Horton announced his resignation in the wake of the disruption.

The ORR, which is investigating the chaos, published an interim report last month that revealed a “lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities” in which “nobody took charge”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Heathrow Express complaints by passengers were up 60%. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

Northern and GTR were among 13 train operators whose complaints rate rose between April and June.

Others include Great Western Railway up 80%, Heathrow Express up 60% and CrossCountry up 40%.

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The average rate of complaints across all operators was 29.9 per 100,000 journeys, representing a 6.6% year-on-year increase.

The most common category was punctuality/reliability, which accounted for 22% of all complaints, up 1.3 percentage points compared with the same period last year.