Rail passengers remain satisfied with the region’s services with at least four out of five happy with their journeys, a survey has found.

According to the Passenger Focus study, 80 per cent of Northern Rail customers in West and North Yorkshire were satisfied overall with their journeys while 96 per cent of passengers using Grand Central’s London to Bradford route were happy with services.

Northern Rail scored an average overall satisfaction rate of 82 per cent – the same as last year, with 90 per cent of customers happy with the way staff handled requests, 87 per cent satisfied with the length of scheduled journey times and 80 per cent happy with the punctuality and reliability of services.

But fewer than half the people surveyed said they were satisfied with the company’s station facilities and services, with only 41 per cent satisfied with toilets.

Forty five per cent were satisfied with how well the company dealt with delays, up nine per cent on last year.

Ian Bevan, Northern Rail managing director, said: “We are pleased that more than four out of five passengers are satisfied overall with our services. It is also encouraging to see that satisfaction scores have increased in many individual areas, most notably how well our passengers feel we have dealt with delays.

“Over the next three years we will continue to improve facilities at our stations and on our trains and deliver an even better service for passengers.”

James Vasey, chairman of Bradford Rail Users Group, said: “There is a lot of capacity for improvement. We have been concerned about how Northern Rail copes with delays. It’s an industry-wide problem, but Northern Rail does need to improve significantly and I am sure they have the capacity to do so.”

Overall satisfaction with Grand Central averaged 95 per cent with 92 per cent of passengers happy with the helpfulness of staff and 91 per cent satisfied with punctuality and reliability.”

Grand Central managing director Tom Clift said: “These figures are a tribute to our on-train staff. We are keen to grow the number of routes and communities we serve to provide more potential passengers with the Grand Central experience.”

Tim Calow, chairman of the Aire Valley Rail Users Group, said: “Generally services are very good. The biggest issue we have got is over crowding. A lot of communters who travel at peak times will be less satisfied than those that travel off peak.”