Home UK Train company blames bad weather for rise in complaints

Train company blames bad weather for rise in complaints

443
0

author image

A rail operator has said bad winter weather is to blame after complaints about its service skyrocketed.

For every 100,000 journeys made on Arriva Trains Wales, the most widely used operator in the country, 66 passengers complained, new figures show.

In a year, formal complaints rose by 28%, making it the sixth most complained about service in Britain.

Train company blames bad weather for rise in complaints

The rail service suffered when Britain was blitzed by Storm Emma in March (Picture: facebook/arrivatrainswales

But the company has pointed to problems during Storm Emma, which crashed into the British Isles in the first week of March.

Wales was badly affected by the storm, which caused chaos on the train lines with almost all services delayed or cancelled.

FILE PHOTO: World Cup - Quarter Final - Sweden vs England - Samara Arena, Samara, Russia - July 7, 2018 England manager Gareth Southgate salutes their fans after the match REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File PhotoGareth Southgate has nation preparing for Waistcoat Wednesday

Barry Lloyd, Arriva Trains Wales head of customer experience, said extreme weather led to the complaints, the BBC reported.

He said: While the volume of complaints has increased, this is largely down to the extreme weather we experienced in the autumn and at the start of the year which led to unprecedented numbers of cancellations.

Advertisement

Advertisement

We acknowledge that trains are becoming busier as passenger numbers continue to grow massively from 18 million in 2003 to 33.5 million last year, while it has been well documented that there is a lack of available diesel rolling stock in the UK at present.

Please be aware that this picture shows a train operated by Arriva Trains Northern, and that from 1 Feb 2004 this franchise is run by Northern Rail. Accordingly, this picture should not be used to illustrate any story relating to Arriva franchises. A passenger walks passed an Arriva train on a platform at Manchester's Piccadilly station. The advertising watchdog told a train company not to repeat "misleading claims that it was offering passengers an "efficient service". * ... In a recruitment advert, Arriva Trains Northern said it "provided efficient passenger rail services across the North of England". 27/03/02 : A passenger walks passed an Arriva train on a platform at Manchester's Piccadilly station. : Commuters were expected to face severe delays today, as rail workers stage aseries of strikes over pay and conditions. Three-hundred staff from Arriva Trains Northern started a 48-hour strike at midnight which will coincide with a 24-hour strike by 670 conductors starting tomorrow. Today's strike by station and retail employees, mainly ticket office staff, was over proposed restructuring. *03/04/02 A passenger walks passed an Arriva train on a platform at Manchester's Piccadilly station. Rail travellers were today, Wednesday 3rd April 2002, bracing themselves for a 48-hour strike across northern England after peace talks ended without agreement. Leaders of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union met managers from Arriva Trains Northern but claimed that the company had made little effort to resolve a long-running dispute over pay. 03/05/02: Tens of thousands of rail users were facing travel chaos because of a fresh strike over pay which will hit services at one of the country's biggest train firms. Arriva Trains Northern said it was planning to run 55% of its 1,400 services across Northern England despite the 48-hour walkout by members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union. 30/5/02: Rail workers in the north of England were continuing a 48-hour walkout over pay the first industrial dispute faced by new Transport Secretary Alistair Darling. The latest in a series of strikes by members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union at Arriva Trains Northern began at 9pm last night. 31/12/02 : Railway workers are determined to continue their long-running dispute with train company Arriva Trains Northern, a union leader said as hundreds of conductors began the latest in a series of 24-hour walkouts. Hundreds of conductors walked out at midnight, causing disruption to services across Northern England. 17/4/03: The industrial action was hitting 12 train companies and is the third in a series of stoppages in a dispute about the safety role of guards. The affected companies are Arriva Trains Merseyside, Central Trains, Connex South Eastern, Midland Mainline, ScotRail, Silverlink, South Central, Thames, Virgin West Coast, Virgin CrossCountry (correct), Wales & Borders and Wessex Trains. 01/08/2003: the train operator Arriva looks set to take over the franchise to operate the Wales and Borders service, it was announced today, August 1st 2003. The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has named the bus and train company as the preferred bidder for the new service. Arriva will be responsible for operating all local and regional train services in Wales and the border counties. 04/03/04: train run by bus and rail operator Arriva which said that it was ready to capitalise on a population boom in London as profits accelerated to 83.8 million. The group, which covers 18.5% of the scheduled network for buses in the capital, said it was encouraged by forecasts from Transport for London of an 11% rise in passenger numbers this year.

Arrivas franchise will be taken over by KeolisAmey in October (Picture: PA)

We are doing all we can to improve this situation with our partners in Welsh Government moving towards the end of the franchise.

The complaints do not include those lodged on social media.

More: UK

However, Mr Lloyd said other statistics show the company is third in Britain for customer satisfaction following a complaint, and seventh for praise received.

The firms franchise is set to end later this year with KeolisAmey taking over in October.

Advertisement

Advertisement

[contf]
[contfnew]

METRO

[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]

Previous articleE-cigarette explodes in mans pocket only two inches away from his penis
Next articleGareth Southgate has nation preparing for Waistcoat Wednesday