GRAND Central rail, which runs services between Bradford and London, has been named as the top train operator in the country in a survey of passenger satisfaction.

But the National Rail Passenger Survey showed that only a third of all rail users feel their train journeys are value for money.

And the research, which was conducted by watchdog Transport Focus, was completed in autumn 2017, meaning the responses do not take into account the 3.4 per cent average fare rise on January 2.

The survey ranked Grand Central as number one for overall journey satisfaction and it was also rated as best value long distance train operator for the sixth year running.

Richard McClean, managing director at Grand Central, said: “It’s fantastic that we’ve been named as the number one train company in the country in this latest survey, and we’re particularly pleased to have achieved our best ever overall satisfaction rating of 96 per cent. We pride ourselves on listening to what our customers want and we make real efforts to understand what they need."

James Vasey, chair of Bradford Rail Users Group, said: "Grand Central is an improving service, they have good fares. The services to London are fantastic and the staff are absolutely amazing.

"But they need to improve reliability - too often the services are cancelled."

Responding to the survey result that just a third of all rail customers believe their fares are value for money, Mr Vasey said passengers often feel unhappy if they are sat on old, cold or damp trains, so upgrades to operator's fleets should improve customers' experiences.

He said: "I think people value their ticket when they can get a seat. It will get better over the next few years as refurbishment of the fleets takes place. Journey times are down to the infrastructure, which is the responsibility of Network Rail. We want infrastructure to improve because it will cut journey times and mean you can run more trains."

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said that passengers are paying "over the odds" and that his party would bring the railways back into public ownership.

He said: “With fares up by 32 per cent since the Tories came to power, it is little wonder that only a third of commuters find their journeys to be value for money. Chris Grayling bailed out a failing private train company to the tune of £2bn at the same time as implementing the steepest fares hike in 5 years, de-staffing trains and pulling promised investment. It’s clear that the Tories have the wrong priorities for the railway."

But the research found that four out of five travellers are satisfied with their journey overall, unchanged from the previous year.

Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said:"Train companies and Network Rail need to keep to their basic promises and deliver a relentless focus on day-to-day performance and better information during disruption."