Britain's 20 biggest rail operators rated from worst to best by Telegraph: List includes East Midlands Railway
The Telegraph ranks major rail operators, with Merseyrail and CrossCountry bookending the list.
A new listing released by The Telegraph that ranks the country’s biggest rail operators from worst to best, will no doubt be pored over by railway users.
While the talk of nationalisation rumbles on, it is pertinent to note that many railway tracks in the country are old.
Add to this, the confusion around ticket options, delays and cancellations impacting services, overcrowding, often substandard toilet facilities, lack of food options aboard, and the cost to travel - it is easy to appreciate why people may be dissatisfied by rail services.
The Telegraph’s Destination Expert Chris Moss said: ‘We thought we’d look at 20 of the biggest operators and rank them according to service and quality – based on data and my own extensive recent experiences – but also what they offer in terms of characterful stations, scenic sightseeing and holiday destinations.’
East Midlands Railway (EMR) came 12th out of 20 on the list with a total score of 30/50.
EMR scored 7/10 for service, 5/10 for comfort, and 6/10 in three categories of price; destinations and stations; and practicalities.
Known formerly as East Midlands Trains, East Midlands Railway is a franchise owned by Transport UK.
This also operates parts of Greater Anglia and Merseyrail, providing a connection between Derby, Leicester, Sheffield and Nottingham, with Liverpool, Norwich and London.
It stretches for 963 miles and the company manages 912 stations.
This includes ‘handsome’ Grade II-listed Cromford, on the Derwent Valley Line, pretty ‘landlocked seaside resort’ Matlock, plus the east coast stations of Skegness and Cleethorpes.
EMR is trialling a ticket-less GPS-based fare concept that is currently used in Switzerland and Denmark. The Telegraph says EMR came 14th out of 22 operators on the latest Transport Focus survey, but its punctuality of 58 per cent is below par.
At the top of the list is Merseyrail that came in at number 1, and the best rail operator according to The Telegraph. Conversely, at the bottom of the list is CrossCountry services that came in at number 20.
Here is The Telegraph’s full list from worst to best, of all train operators
The Telegraph calculated points covering service reliability, frequency and punctuality.
Under the price category, passenger feedback and value for money was taken into account.
Included in the comfort category, was ease of use for passengers, Wi-Fi, power sockets, air conditioning and food availability on board.
The practicalities category considered ease of website use, and how easy it was to get a refund.
Under the destinations and stations section, the ‘scenic potential for window gazers’ the number of UNESCO locations, cultural spots and resorts was taken into account.
20. CrossCountry 23/50
19. TransPennine Express 24/50
18. Great Northern 25/50
17. Southern 26/50
16. Govia Thameslink Railway 27/50
15. C2c 28/50
14. Northern Trains 29/50
13. South Western Railway 29.5/50
12. East Midlands Railway 30/50
11. Southeastern 30/50
10. London Overground (Arriva Rail London) 30.5/50
9. Chiltern Railways 31/50
8. West Midlands Railway/London Northwestern 31.5/50
7. Greater Anglia 32/50
6. Avanti West Coast 32/50
5. London North Eastern Railway 32.5/50
4. Transport for Wales 33/50
3. Great Western Railway 34/50
2. ScotRail 34.5/50
1. Merseyrail 37/50