FIRST TransPennine Express, which runs services on the Lakes and Furness lines, has achieved an overall satisfaction rating of 85 per cent in a survey by Transport Focus.

It says passengers on its North West services recognise improvements in value for money, delay handling and staff availability. The independent survey, which canvassed the opinions of more than 1,000 passengers across the rail operator’s network, revealed satisfaction with how the operator dealt with delays along routes in the region leapt by 16 per cent compared to the previous year.

Passengers also cited sufficient room to sit and stand as another improvement area, with satisfaction up by eight per cent on the previous year, largely due to the launch of ten new electric trains along its Manchester and Edinburgh, Glasgow route in May 2014.

MORE TOP STORIES: Value for money for the price of a ticket, staff availability and space for luggage all jumped by 11 per cent on the previous year for the North West route too, as did the ability to connect with other forms of public transport, which rose by 13 per cent.

Kathryn O’Brien, Customer Service Director at First TransPennine Express, said: “While the current passenger satisfaction results are encouraging in a lot of areas and important to us, we remain focused on delivering even more enhancements over the coming months. These include the roll-out of free Wi-Fi at stations across our network, a major programme of customer service training for staff, and continuing to work with our industry partners to play a key role in the delivery of vital infrastructure improvements for rail in the north.”