Passenger rail service complaints
Quarterly statistics on the volume and cause of complaints made to train operating companies, infrastructure managers and passenger watchdogs along with statistics on how well train operating companies respond to complaints. This data forms part of ORR's core consumer data requirements from train operating companies; more information can be found at ORR core data
For details on how these statistics are compiled, please see our Passenger rail service complaints methodology and quality report and for information on any revisions, please see our Revisions Log.
Data and reports that include previous statistical releases on Passenger rail service complaints can be found on the National Archives.
If you have any questions or feedback on these statistics, please contact rail.stats@orr.gov.uk
Latest statistical release
Passenger rail service complaints 2018-19 Q4
Date published: 27 Jun 2019
Date next published: 24 Oct 2019
Key results
- There were 30.1 complaints per 100,000 journeys in 2018-19 for franchised operators, an increase of 2.8% compared to 2017-18.
- Punctuality/reliability of rail services remains the largest category of passenger complaint in 2018-19. The largest percentage point increase from 2017-18 were for complaints about timetabling (up 1.8 pp to 2.3%) and facilities on board the train (up 1.3 pp to 9.3%).
- Nationally 94.3% of complaints were closed within 20 working days in 2018-19.A total of 15 out of 23 train operators met the industry requirement to close 95% or more of their complaints within 20 working days.
- There were 6,313 appeals closed by passenger watchdogs in 2018-19, an increase of 8.8% compared to the last year.