Rail Transport in Great Britain - Passenger Services

Passenger Services

Passenger services in Great Britain are divided into regional franchises and run by private (that is. non-state owned) Train Operating Companies. These companies bid for seven- to eight-year contracts to run individual franchises. Most contracts are awarded by the Department for Transport (DfT), with the exception of Merseyrail, where the franchise is awarded by Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive, and ScotRail, where the DfT awards on the advice of the Scottish Government. Initially, there were 25 franchises, but the number of different operating companies is smaller as some firms, including First Group, National Express Group and Stagecoach Group, run more than one franchise. In addition, some franchises have since been combined. There are also a number of local or specialised rail services operated on an 'open access' basis outside the franchise arrangements. Examples include Heathrow Express and Hull Trains.

In the 2002–3 operating year, franchised services provided 976 million journeys totalling 24.7 billion passenger miles of travel, an increase over 1986–7 of 32% in journeys (from 738 million) and 29% in passenger-miles (from 30.8 billion). On the other hand, taking a longer-term view, the number of journeys in 2002–3 was lower than for the 1950–60 period. The passenger-miles figure, after being flat from 1965–1995, surpassed the 1947 figure for the first time in 1998 and continues to rise steeply. Passengers carried in the second quarter of 2011, at 322 million, were up 5.9% on the previous year.

The key index used to assess passenger train performance is the Public Performance Measure, which combines figures for punctuality and reliability. Performance against this metric has been especially poor since mid-2000. From a base of 90% of trains arriving on time in 1998, the measure dipped to 75% in mid 2001 and, by the end of the 2002–3 period, had recovered to only 80%. However, as of September 2006, the PPM stands at 87.5% after a period of steady increases in the annual moving average since 2003.

The real increase in rail fares, after accounting for inflation over the 1995–2004 period, was 4.7%. For some years, Britain has been said to have the highest rail fares in the world. For example, the (discounted) annual season ticket from London to Brighton (standard 2nd class) as of January 2010 costs £3,280 for 54 miles (87 km), while an annual DB (German) 100 BahnCard, which allows one year's travel on the entire German rail network, costs almost exactly the same (3800 Euros). Nevertheless, UK rail operators point out that rail fare increases have been at a substantially lower rate than petrol prices for private motoring.

Average rolling-stock age — a rough indicator of passenger comfort — fell slightly from the third quarter of 2001–2 to the third quarter of 2003–4, from 20.7 years old to 19.3 years old.

Although passengers rarely have cause to refer to either document, all travel is subject to the National Rail Conditions of Carriage and all tickets are valid subject to the rules set out in a number of so-called technical manuals, which are centrally produced for the network.