Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase customer satisfaction in (a) rail and (b) other forms of public transport.

Customer satisfaction is an absolute priority for the Department. In rail, we are investing £48 billion to help modernise the network and deliver significant improvements in performance, punctuality and capacity across the country. We are upgrading the East Coast and Great Western Mainlines and introducing brand new trains across the network with orders for over 7,800 new carriages placed since 2010. We have also introduced new measures on compensation, an independent rail ombudsman and commissioned an independent root and branch review of the railway.

Buses already enjoy high customer satisfaction with the latest Transport Focus Bus Passenger Survey revealing that almost nine out of ten passengers saying they are satisfied with their bus service. The Bus Services Act 2017 introduced a number of new tools to help local authorities improve local bus services. Through partnership arrangements we have enabled local authorities and bus operators to work constructively to provide better services for passengers.