A third of Londoners believe surface rail services have got worse over the past year, according to new polling carried out by City Hall, but only one in ten blame the Government for the situation.
According to the YouGov poll reveal, 37% say national rail services had worsened while eight per cent said they had improved. 33% said they didn’t know and almost a quarter (23%) said they’d noticed no difference.
Asked who was to blame for poor service levels, 67% said the train operators while 14% blamed trade unions and just 10% thought ministers were responsible.
The poll was released ahead of an average rail fare hike of 3.4% coming into effect next week.
Mayor Sadiq Khan said its findings were a “damning indictment of the continuing failure of the train operating companies to provide an adequate service for passengers.”
“Londoners are fed up of the repeated delays, cancelations and overcrowding getting in and out of London, and alongside problems with Network Rail, many timetables have become works of fiction for commuters over December.”
The Mayor added that “growing dissatisfaction with the private train companies shows why a further hike in rail fares this January is simply unjustifiable.”
Last December the Government abandoned plans to devolve rail services in London to City Hall and Transport for London, however a vision document published last month suggested ministers were having a limited re-think and are now considering “potentially transferring some services to Transport for London, for example the West London Line.”
Speaking at the launch in his document, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “Rail passengers deserve a more reliable, more efficient service – and I will deliver it by ending the one-size-fits-all approach of franchising and bringing closer together the best of the public and private sector.”
