An increasing number of passengers are satisfied with the overall service provided by the biggest train operator in the Bradford district, an independent watchdog revealed today.

Northern Rail, which runs trains on the Caldervale, Airedale and Wharfedale lines, has achieved an 82 per cent passenger satisfaction score in the newly-released National Passenger Survey, conducted by Passenger Focus.

The result is a one per cent improvement on Northern Rail’s score in autumn 2009 and a two per cent improvement on spring 2009.

Although overall satisfaction levels rose, passenger satisfaction with toilets onboard Northern Rail trains fell by six per cent to only 35 per cent.

Meanwhile, only half of those surveyed said they were satisfied with the cleanliness of the outside of Northern Rail’s trains, although more were satisfied with the cleanliness of carriages’ interiors.

Ian Bevan, managing director of Northern Rail, said: “We are pleased that more passengers are satisfied overall with our services. It is also encouraging that satisfaction scores have increased in many areas, including value for money and factors relating to the environment and service we provide for customers on our trains.

“We are also pleased to see our passengers believe that our punctuality has improved – and it has, with over 91 per cent of services arriving on time.”

Meanwhile, Grand Central, which started operating direct services from Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross last month, was given an overall passenger satisfaction score of 94 per cent – one per cent down on last autumn but still nine per cent above the national average.

Other satisfaction scores among train operators serving the Yorkshire and Humber region included CrossCountry (85 per cent), East Coast (88 per cent) and First TransPennine Express (87 per cent).

Ashwin Kumar, rail director for Passenger Focus, said: “These results show a pretty good picture of the region’s railway. Passengers are becoming more satisfied.”