Low rate of satisfaction by UK rail users... survey.

[caravanman]

Not happy... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26224890

Ed

 

[jis]

At least they have passenger rail available to go almost anywhere in the country to complain about. We just have to complain about non-existence of service altogether for much of the country.

 

[Anderson]

Also, those satisfaction ratings aren't great...but they're not awful, and rail ridership has skyrocketed in the UK.

Edit: Call it the RyanAir problem. People don't like lousy service, but they're still willing to deal with it if it's cheap enough. Same thing with British Rail vs. what's there now: Folks didn't want to pay for BR with taxes, so now they've got something that doesn't cost the government much...but they'll still take it even though they don't like it.

 

[KC Ghost Rider]

I think British Rail service is awesome and I have had that opinion since 1984. My last trip in 2009 went from Southampton, England, to Gourock, Scotland, in only over 8 hours and was fantastic. Sure, the toilet area was disgusting and some of the train stations seemed in need of major repairs, but the train ran on time and the ride was smooth. Yes, the cost has risen to a price one loathes to pay, but that is where the British Rail pass come in handy (at least for tourists). Amtrak is fun and I am proud we have its service, but you can go just about anywhere in the U. K. by train. For those remote locations they have ferries, buses, and taxis. America has lost much of its public transportation infrastructure and that is a shame.

 

[jerichowhiskey]

The problem as I understand it is, many cannot afford to drive a car so they HAVE to take the train and the increasing fares are not helping their financial situation at all while at the same time, the rail companies realize they have a captured market. So while the ride may be nice, it won't do well when much of their pay goes to it.

 

[xyzzy]

I ride trains in the UK frequently (12 trips in the past 10 days). Relative to what I experience in North America, the major problem with UK trains is over-crowding -- particularly morning and evening commuter services for London. If you had to stand for 30-45 minutes every morning and every evening five days a week -- and then get on a crowded Tube and stand some more -- you'd be cranky too. Chiltern's high score is an outlier. Otherwise, the operators who provide few or no commuter services for London scored much better than the operators who do.