Merseyrail has announced that it has been named as the UK’s most punctual rail operator for a second year running after 96.36% of its trains ran on time.
It also achieved its best performing year ever in 2019, even with the oldest passenger fleet in the UK.
In the past year, the train operator has won a number of awards, including being named Greatest Place to Work at the National Rail Awards and winning the Excellence in Sustainability and Society Award at the British Quality Foundation Awards in May.
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What did the officials say?
Speaking about the results, Zoe Hands, Operations Director at Merseyrail, said:
“Delivering a world class railway for the Liverpool City Region is our main goal at Merseyrail, and we are thrilled to have achieved this in 2019.
“These punctuality results cement the fact that Merseyrail is consistently one of the best performing rail operators in the country and I’m so glad we can put our region on the map when it comes to the best train services in Britain.
“Our passengers are at the heart of everything we do, and this is reflected in the results that we have gained despite some challenging conditions over the last twelve months.
“We would like to show our gratitude to Merseytravel and our service partners the British Transport Police, Stadler, Stadium and Carlisle who have worked with us to achieve this record breaking result.
“However, our special thanks has to go to Network Rail who have been the bedrock of our performance owing to their tireless efforts and success in improving infrastructure reliability this past year.”
“We also have our new fleet of trains to look forward to, which I’m sure, in time, will take us to the next level of passenger experience.”
Cllr Liam Robinson, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Portfolio Holder, said:
“At a time when some rail services in other areas of the country and region are so poor, it’s great to see that the Merseyrail network is performing well, reinforcing the level of service that we work hard to achieve.
“It’s an exciting time for us, with the new fleet due to start arriving on our network later this year, further strengthening our commitment to provide a reliable service for Merseyrail passengers.”
Phil James, Regional Director for Network Rail’s North West route, said:
“There is a lot of hard work taking place across the North West, with our train and freight operating partners, to identify areas of improvement that can make a big difference to the reliability and resilience of the rail network. We’re trying to do more to give passengers the better service they deserve.
“I’m happy to see this hard work pay off in the Liverpool City Region, for Merseyrail passengers. I’m also very proud of our continued work with Merseytravel and Merseyrail on an extensive programme of work to bring new trains onto the network.”
Responses
Crosscountry, Transport for Wales, Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Transpennine Express and ScotRail have also been punctual. Whilst other train operator including Greater Anglia, Northern, Hull Trains, South Western Railway, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN), West Midlands Trains (West Midlands Railway & London Northwestern Railway), Great Western Railway and London North Eastern Railway have struggled recently.