Virgin Trains one of UK’s most trusted rail operators

Virgin Trains has welcomed independent research showing it to be one of the most trusted rail operators in the UK.

A report by Passenger Focus, the statutory rail watchdog, looked in depth at customers’ relationships with train companies, exploring whether they had trust in service delivery, communication with passengers and the motivations of those companies in “doing the right thing”.

It found that Virgin Trains topped the table for ‘Trust in Judgement’ (how customers feel about a company’s integrity and reputation), comfortably surpassing other operators. We came second on ‘Trust in Relationship’ (reflecting customers’ engagement and emotional connection) and fourth on ‘Trust in Service’ (about the day to day running of the company) out of 21 train companies examined.

Phil Whittingham, Virgin Trains’ lead executive, welcomed the survey results, saying they reflected the hard work everyone had put into meeting customers’ needs.

“For us, operating a train company is about much more than getting passengers from A to B. It is about ensuring they have the best possible customer experience, are well looked after and get all the information they need,” he said.

“As part of this, we’ve used technology to drive new ways of communicating with passengers, building by far the biggest Twitter following of any UK train operator.

“But most of all, these results come from the great work our people do in building relationships with customers, exceeding their expectations of customer care day-in and day-out.”

Virgin Trains has consistently outperformed the long-distance rail sector average in customer satisfaction scores, according to separate research by Passenger Focus.

We are now using customer advocacy scores to build up a far more detailed view of what passengers enjoy or dislike, using these to benchmark against companies with a worldwide reputation for customer service. “More than ever we are putting passengers at the heart of everything we do,” Phil Whittingham added.