RAIL passengers in East Anglia were the least satisfied in the country during the early months of this year, according to new figures released by the official rail watchdog.

Passenger Focus published its official National Passenger Survey (NPS) which revealed that only 73% of travellers in the Greater Anglia region were satisfied with the rail service in the region.

The survey was carried out between the end of January and the end of March. Greater Anglia took over from National Express East Anglia during the survey period.

Ruud Haket, managing director of Greater Anglia, said: “We recognise the task we face in improving customer satisfaction and it is a challenge we are determined to successfully meet.

“Since taking the franchise over in February 2012 we have concentrated our efforts to improve customer service with a real focus on providing cleaner trains, improved punctuality through a much closer partnership with Network Rail and better information provision.

“We are making good progress and I hope the next passenger survey will positively reflect this.”

Passengers and MPs have noticed an improvement since Greater Anglia took over.

Derek Monnery, of the Essex Rail Users’ Federation, said: “There has been an improvement – staff are much better informed when there are problems and are very quick to tell passengers what the situation is.

“And the trains are getting a really good clean which is making them look better. You get the feeling that it is now run by a rail company – not a bus company which treats rail passengers as if they were on coach journeys.”

And Mr Monnery felt that Greater Anglia was now working better with Network Rail on dealing with problems.

He said: “The managing director of the new franchise is an engineer and is able to work closely with Network Rail’s Dave Ward to deal with any issues that arise.”

Ipswich MP Ben Gummer had also noticed a difference. “We all knew there would not be an overnight transformation, but there have been significant improvements to people’s travel and I think most passengers can see that,” he said.

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