ScotRail still guilty of keeping travellers in dark over delays By ALASTAIR DALTON Published on Thursday 26 January 2012 13:47 PASSENGER satisfaction with the way ScotRail handles delays has slumped, with barely one in three happy with how they are treated during disruption. The Achilles" heel which has long dogged Scotland's main train operator took the shine off near record overall satisfaction ratings in the latest official watchdog survey yesterday. The National Passenger Survey, conducted by Passenger Focus, showed 34 per cent of passengers questioned last autumn were happy with delay handling - 11 percentage points fewer than the previous year. That left ScotRail fourth-worst among 19 train operators, after three in southern England. The firm has already been warned about the urgent need to improve communication with passengers. Office of Rail Regulation chief executive Richard Price said last month that the personal reputation of ScotRail managing director Steve Montgomery - along with his Network Rail counterpart - was "on the line" unless there were improvements this winter. Passenger Focus said the issue was one of travellers" top five concerns, along with fares, punctuality, train frequency and getting a seat. Director David Sidebottom said: "Our research found that when services are delayed or disrupted, passengers must be provided with up-to-date information and, when appropriate, alternatives ways to get to their destinations." By contrast, the survey was largely positive for the operator, with passengers" overall satisfaction up by three percentage points to 89 per cent - one point off the record. The highest score - and biggest gain - was in satisfaction with how station staff handled passenger requests, which soared by 16 points to 92 per cent. Train toilets also scored better, with an 11-point rise to 51 per cent satisfied - the highest ScotRail has achieved. The other main improvements were in the cleanliness of train carriage interiors, which reached a record 84 per cent satisfied, and seat comfort. However, there were small falls in satisfaction with station upkeep and the helpfulness of station staff. ScotRail said the wet summer, including very heavy rainfall on two days in August, had contributed to the poor figure for delay handling, but improvements had been made since. Mr Montgomery said: "There is no doubt the severe flooding which disrupted services affected this result and there is more work to do. From November, we began introducing the benefits of our £2 million spend on winter preparations. These included new equipment to improve the flow of live travel information and to keep trains running in extreme weather. We have given smartphones to more than 800 on-train staff to pass on real-time information and [have] also seen a massive increase in customers accessing our website's new disruption information and Journey Alert [text message service]. This work will continue, focusing on driving this score back up. Among other train operators serving Scotland, East Coast and Virgin Trains scored 86 per cent in overall passenger satisfaction on their cross-Border routes.