Tony Lodge, author of a Centre for Policy Studies report on rail competition, has written a piece for the Yorkshire Post published 3 March 2017 on why increasing competition benefits passengers.
Tony notes that passengers travelling from Doncaster and York benefit greatly from open access rail – where other train companies run services that compete with the main franchise holder – but this is denied to other parts of the country because the government has been reluctant to extend open access routes.
“[Trains that] compete on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) and record the highest passenger satisfaction ratings in the country. Hull Trains comes top with 97 per cent, followed by rivals Grand Central and VTEC each with 91 per cent satisfaction. Similarly these operators also come top on value for money, reliability, punctuality, getting a seat and station facilities. The message is clear. When train companies face competition, they raise their game – they deliver better services at competitive fares because they have to fight for passengers.”
Click here to read the full piece.
Date Added: Friday 3rd March 2017
