Four out of five passengers are satisfied with their rail journeys but fewer than half believe they get value for money, according to independent watchdog Passenger Focus' autumn 2007 report.
Nearly 28,000 train users were asked about aspects of their journeys, giving a network-wide picture of passengers” feelings.
And although it was up 2% on last year, still only 45% believe they receive value for money on the UK railway network.
Passengers say ticket buying facilities, stations, availability of staff at stations and space to sit ” and stand ” have all improved.
Satisfaction is shrinking however, regarding connections with other forms of transport, frequency of trains, and ” more than anything else ” helpfulness and attitude of staff on the train.
Operators going up in estimation are Arriva Trains Wales (85% satisfaction rating) and South West Trains (85%), while those maintaining high standards are Gatwick Express (94%), Chiltern Railways (90%) and c2c (89%).
Passengers were less happy this year with Heathrow Express (down 8% to 88%), First ScotRail (down 4% to 84%) and First Great Western (down 3% to 74%). National Express East Coast has work to do on the franchise it has taken over from GNER ” satisfaction with the latter dropped 5% to 82%.
”We again call for a fare freeze where performance has been poor,” said Passenger Focus chief executive Anthony Smith. ”To penalise passengers with fare rises when train companies are not sticking to their side of the deal is simply not fair.”