Just 49% of rail commuters in Great Britain feel their train fare offers value for money, according to the latest survey by the passenger watchdog Transport Focus. The figure stands in stark contrast to leisure travellers, 67% of whom consider their ticket good value. The findings, drawn from the newly named Rail Customer Experience Survey (which replaced the former National Passenger Survey), are based on responses from more than 100,000 passengers questioned immediately after their journeys between October 2025 and March 2026.
Nationally, 87% of passengers said they were satisfied with their overall journey experience. But Transport Focus warned of a “striking gap” between the best and worst performing operators. Alex Robertson, the watchdog’s chief executive, said: “These results show that it’s possible for the railway to get it right, but that this isn’t happening consistently enough.” He added that disabled passengers are experiencing a worse service than everyone else, with 85% satisfaction compared with 88% for non-disabled passengers.
CrossCountry was the lowest-rated operator for overall satisfaction, with only 79% of its passengers satisfied. The Arriva-run service, which operates long-distance trains from southern England to the north and Scotland via Birmingham, saw the majority of its customers unhappy with how delays were handled. Transport Focus has urged CrossCountry to improve passenger information during disruption and tackle overcrowding. The operator described the results as “disappointing” and acknowledged: “We know we must do more to deliver the service our customers rightly deserve.”
At the other end of the scale, Hull Trains recorded the highest overall satisfaction at 94%, closely followed by LNER with 93%, while Merseyrail, Heathrow Express and ScotRail were joint third at 92%. Lumo, another open-access operator, polled best for value for money, with 75% of passengers satisfied with their ticket price. Conversely, Great Northern passengers were the least satisfied with value for money, at 49%. Hull Trains and Lumo are both open-access services run independently of the Department for Transport by FirstGroup. Graham Sutherland, FirstGroup’s chief executive, said: “We’ve clearly demonstrated on the east coast mainline that having effective competition there has driven more volumes and more sustainable transport, and brought real value to customers.”
The critical role of delay handling
The survey underlines the overwhelming impact of how train operators manage delays. Transport Focus found that more than nine in ten passengers (92%) report a positive experience if a delay is handled well – a remarkably high figure given their train is late. But this figure falls to just one in four (26%) when disruption is poorly managed. Alex Robertson said: “Fixing this is well within the railway’s control and should be a priority.” The finding helps explain why CrossCountry, which scored poorly on delay handling, saw overall satisfaction fall below the 87% national average.
Record journeys, but revenue still lags
Despite the mixed satisfaction scores, passenger numbers have hit a recent record high. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) reported that 1.83 billion journeys were made on Great Britain’s rail network in the 12 months to March 2026 – the highest yearly figure since 1920, and up 6% on the previous year. However, rail fare revenue during the same period was £12.3 billion, still £1 billion below pre‑pandemic totals. In the year to March 2025, revenue had risen 8% to £11.5 billion but remained 12% below pre‑pandemic levels.
The ORR noted that the figures are being inflated by two factors: the increasing use of split ticketing – dividing longer journeys into several legs to exploit ticketing anomalies for cheaper fares – and the opening of the Elizabeth line, which has shifted journey patterns so that some trips previously counted as London Underground or DLR services now appear in mainline rail statistics. About one in seven journeys were on the Elizabeth line.
Future changes: public ownership and Great British Railways
CrossCountry is expected to be brought into public ownership next year as part of a wider programme of rail nationalisation and reform. Train operators and Network Rail are being integrated into a new arm’s-length national body, Great British Railways (GBR), which will report to the government. The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act became law in November 2024, mandating the return of private operators to public ownership as their contracts expire. A Shadow Great British Railways was established in September 2024 to prepare for the formal organisation, and Derby was announced as GBR’s home in 2023, though the exact location is still being finalised. The Railways Bill, which formally establishes GBR, was introduced to Parliament in November 2025.
Several operators have already moved into public ownership: South Western Railway on 25 May 2025, c2c on 20 July 2025, Greater Anglia on 12 October 2025, and West Midlands Trains on 1 February 2026. Thameslink, Southern, and Great Northern Limited are scheduled to transfer on 31 May 2026, followed by Chiltern Railways on 20 September 2026.
