Performance Targets

Period 12 Update 

Unfortunately, in Period 12 we missed our Department for Transport Targets for: T-CS1 - Overall Customer Satisfaction and T-CS2 - Satisfaction with Dealing with Delay. 

There were several significant incidents in Period 12 that caused a number of cancellations and/or delay minutes, which had an impact on our customer experience metrics. The incidents that caused the most disruption include an overhead line fault at Shap Summit, a fatality at Law Junction, an Avanti train fault at Penrith, a signalling panel failure at Heald Green, a track circuit failure at Carstairs and cable theft at Doncaster - with 5 out of 6 of these incidents having significant impact on the Manchester Airport and Liverpool to Glasgow and Edinburgh route, and the cable theft at Doncaster impacting the South route. 

What are we doing about it? 

Although our internal control metrics indicate strong performance against our brilliant basics KPIs, we will be undertaking further analysis on the individual metrics that influence overall customer satisfaction. We will also work through feedback received via our Customer Panel, such as: 
Clear and more honest communication during delays, including realistic timeframes and better explanations of the causes of disruption 
Improved guidance and support for customers, ensuring clear advice is provided during disruption and that Delay Repay information is consistently communicated 
Simplifying Delay Repay, looking at making it 'one click' or automated claims 
Greater staff visibility at key locations during period of disruption 

Q4 - Ticketless Travel 

Unfortunately, in Q4 we missed our Department for Transport Performance Target for T-TT1: Ticketless Travel. 

There was an increase in the number of customers with invalid tickets of 0.35% which has driven the increase in ticketless travel this quarter. It is also worth noting that there was some significant disruption during the survey period owing to adverse weather and a fire causing a tunnel in the Huddersfield area to close. As a result, no survey samples were collected on the York-Huddersfield route as minimal services ran within the survey period. 

What are we doing about it? 

We will continue with our ticketless travel reducing initiatives, this includes our 'Buy Before you Board' messaging, utilising our revenue protection staff onboard trains on identified ticketless travel hotspot routes, as well as temporary barriers at stations which don't have a permanent barrier. 

Period 11 Update 

Unfortunately, in Period 11 we missed our Department for Transport Performance Targets for: T-CS1 - Overall Customer Satisfaction and T-CS2 - Satisfaction with Dealing with Delay.

There were a number of network incidents in period which impacted our operational performance and in turn, our customer satisfaction metrics. The biggest incidents include a serious fire which closed Standedge Tunnel on our North Route, disruption caused by the back end of Storm Goretti, a fatality at Church Fenton and a trespass incident at Ordsall Lane Junction.

What are we doing about it?

While we have seen a positive uplift in satisfaction, we recognise that our disruption and delay handling is not where it needs to be. To address this, we’re actively developing improvements to the customer experience, including a review of pre-planned disruption communications, stronger digital advice, and enhancements to push notifications. 

Period 10 Update – Time to 3 Performance & Customer Satisfaction

In Period 10 (December 2025) we missed our Department for Transport Performance Targets in two categories – T-CS1 - Overall Customer Satisfaction and T-CS2 - Satisfaction with Dealing with Delay.

These targets are Moving Annual Average targets which are calculated by taking the average results across 12 months. Unfortunately, the exceptionally poor performance last year in February and March due to the weather, including Storm Eowyn is continuing to adversely impact our results. For Rail Period 10, the individual performance figures for T-CS1 - Overall Customer Satisfaction was 87%, and for T-CS2 - Satisfaction with Dealing with Delay 70%. Additionally, for a number of our satisfaction metrics, we recorded improvements this period; our NPS score increased significantly from +5 in Period 9 to +13 in Period 10, and we received the highest amount of praise cases to date via our Customer Relations team.

What are we doing about it?

While we have seen a positive uplift in satisfaction, we recognise that our disruption and delay handling is not where it needs to be. To address this, we’re actively developing improvements to the customer experience, including a review of pre-planned disruption communications, stronger digital advice, and enhancements to push notifications.