It seems that if you want to satisfied about your morning commute the only way to travel is by tram! The latest Passenger Focus survey has shown that on average across the UK (except for on London Tramlink) passengers have given trams a 93% overall satisfaction score – similar surveys on the buses (87%) and trains (81%) have come in much lower.
The survey was undertaken by Passenger Focus in Autumn 2016 and covered Blackpool, Edinburgh, Manchester Metrolink, Midland Metro Nottingham Express Transit and Stagecoach Supertram. Almost 5400 passengers were asked about their latest tram journey with a number of questions posed.
Overall the satisfaction levels have remained consistent in comparison with 2015 as across all networks it is at 93%. This ranges from Edinburgh Trams at 99% down to Manchester Metrolink at 90% (at the time of the survey 2CC was still under construction and it will be interesting to see if this causes any change to next year’s figures). On the whole satisfaction levels have not changed with the exception of Midland Metro which has risen top 92% (a big increase from 81%) and Stagecoach Supertram which has fallen to 91% (from 97%). The increase in Midland Metro can probably be put down to the opening of the full Birmingham City Centre extension although it is difficult to pinpoint what has caused the users of Supertram to lose so much satisfaction this year.
Satisfaction levels across the UK are:
Blackpool Tramway – 95% (2015 – 96%)
Edinburgh Trams – 99% (2015 – 97%)
Manchester Metrolink – 90% (2015 – 89%)
Midland Metro – 92% (2015 – 81%)
Nottingham Express Transit – 97% (2015 – 98%)
Stagecoach Supertram – 91% (2015 – 97%)
(For Blackpool, Edinburgh, Metrolink and NET Passenger Focus state that the figures haven’t changed and yet the 2015 percentage levels are one or two different)
All in all it is a positive picture for passenger satisfaction across the country – long may it continue!
* The full results of the survey can be found at https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/research-publications/publications/tram-passenger-survey/.