Passenger Focus has welcomed the rail industry’s Initial Industry Plan (IIP) for England and Wales in Control Period 5, 2014-19, and is supportive of what IIP would deliver for passengers on top of the much-needed investment already announced.
This includes Crossrail, the Thameslink Programme, the Intercity Express Programme and electrification of the Great Western and routes in North West England.
Passenger Focus recognises the wider economic and financial situation, however, it has expressed concerns about IIP’s ‘assumption of continued above-inflation fare increases and significant reductions in the number of passenger-facing staff’.
‘Neither of these will be popular with passengers’, Passenger Focus has said.
Passenger Focus is also ‘disappointed’ that the IIP talks only of an ‘ambition to achieve 90% customer satisfaction in the longer term’, but is then ‘unambitious about improving punctuality – the very thing that would do most to increase passenger satisfaction’.
Passenger Focus’s response to the rail industry’s Initial Industry Plan (IIP) for England and Wales in Control Period 5, 2014-19, can be downloaded here.
