Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 10:38:56 GMT 7
Jeremy Corbyn’s attempt to highlight overcrowding on the rail network by sitting down on a Virgin service from London to Newcastle has erupted into a political storm. The incident has raised a number of questions, including whether overcrowding is a genuine problem on Virgin services and whether the Labour leader’s policy of nationalising train operators will make services less crowded and bring down fares.
1) How overcrowded are Virgin Trains services on a regular basis?
Virgin Trains operates two franchises – the west coast and the east coast. Virgin has run the west coast, which includes trains from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland since 1997. It took on the east coast – which runs trains from London to Newcastle, Leeds, York and Scotland – last year
Jeremy Corbyn was travelling on the east coast service from London King’s Cross to Newcastle. This service is not listed by the Department for Transport as one of the 10 most overcrowded train services in Britain. In fact, passengers on Virgin Trains are more satisfied with the space on their train than most other services. The latest survey by passenger group Transport Focus found that 80% of passengers rated the Virgin Trains as “satisfied or good” in terms of the room for passengers to sit and stand between London and the north east of England. Out of 78 routes in Britain, only 14 scored higher, with five of those being Virgin Trains services too. Overall customer satisfaction on the route was rated as 86% by Transport Focus.
However, the government’s Office of Rail and Road found Virgin Trains has the highest number of complaints per 100,000 journeys in the UK. The main complaint was the train’s facilities, which the ORR said was due to the franchise covering longer distances than other services.
Virgin Trains has announced plans to launch a new fleet of 65 Virgin Azuma trains from 2018, which the company says will increase capacity into London on the east coast line by 28% at peaktimes.
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www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/24/virgin-trains-fares-overcrowding-jeremy-corbyn-railways-q-and-a
1) How overcrowded are Virgin Trains services on a regular basis?
Virgin Trains operates two franchises – the west coast and the east coast. Virgin has run the west coast, which includes trains from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland since 1997. It took on the east coast – which runs trains from London to Newcastle, Leeds, York and Scotland – last year
Jeremy Corbyn was travelling on the east coast service from London King’s Cross to Newcastle. This service is not listed by the Department for Transport as one of the 10 most overcrowded train services in Britain. In fact, passengers on Virgin Trains are more satisfied with the space on their train than most other services. The latest survey by passenger group Transport Focus found that 80% of passengers rated the Virgin Trains as “satisfied or good” in terms of the room for passengers to sit and stand between London and the north east of England. Out of 78 routes in Britain, only 14 scored higher, with five of those being Virgin Trains services too. Overall customer satisfaction on the route was rated as 86% by Transport Focus.
However, the government’s Office of Rail and Road found Virgin Trains has the highest number of complaints per 100,000 journeys in the UK. The main complaint was the train’s facilities, which the ORR said was due to the franchise covering longer distances than other services.
Virgin Trains has announced plans to launch a new fleet of 65 Virgin Azuma trains from 2018, which the company says will increase capacity into London on the east coast line by 28% at peaktimes.
Continues -
www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/24/virgin-trains-fares-overcrowding-jeremy-corbyn-railways-q-and-a
