A RAILWAY operator which runs services between the North-East and London has come second in a passenger satisfaction survey.

Figures released today (Wednesday, January 27) reveal that 93 per cent of passengers were satisfied with Grand Central services in the autumn 2015 National Rail Passenger Survey.

The long distance operator, which runs from Sunderland and Bradford to London, came second only to First Hull Trains, which had a 97 per cent, overall satisfaction rating.

Sean English, acting managing director at Grand Central, said: “We listen to our customers and put their feedback into action to ensure Grand Central is always operating at the heart of the communities that we serve.

“We’re delighted that our investments over the last year have led to customers continuing to express high levels of satisfaction with our services and we continue to pride ourselves on the reliability of our offering.”

The independent passenger watchdog, Transport Focus, carried out the survey of 28,000 people.

Nationally, the overall score for commuter satisfaction was 76 per cent, compared with 85 per cent for business travellers and 90 per cent for passengers on leisure trips.

Northern Rail achieved its best ever customer satisfaction score in the survey of 26 companies.

It achieved an 84 per cent overall customer satisfaction score.

Natalie Loughborough, customer service director for Northern Rail, said: “We’d like to thank customers for taking the time to give us such valuable feedback. It ensures we tackle the issues that matter most on their daily journeys.”

The operators with the three lowest ratings were all in the South-East, where long-running improvement work at London Bridge station has caused disruption to services.