Shropshire rail passengers catching trains with Arriva Trains Wales are happier with the service than for the same period last year, a new survey of customers has today revealed.

Rail operator Arriva Trains Wales scored 87 per cent for overall customer satisfaction in the latest National Passenger Survey.

The firm, which operates services in and around Shropshire, has improved on last year’s performance by four per cent and has performed ahead of the regional rail operator average.

The report, published by rail customer watchdog Passenger Focus, found that nationally 81 per cent of passengers are satisfied with their rail journey.

This year the station and on-train scores for Arriva Trains Wales also improved in almost all areas with 29 of the 31 areas surveyed showing rises in satisfaction.

Areas of improvement on stations were in station information, station upkeep and repair, station cleanliness, overall environment and availability of staff.

There were also improvements to customer satisfaction on trains with improved scores on value for money and exterior cleanliness.

Ian Bullock, Arriva Trains Wales customer services director, said: “We welcome the results of this latest survey which demonstrate that our efforts to improve our service delivery to our customers is being recognised.

“However we are not complacent and we will continue with our programme of continuous improvement.”

He added that work is under way on a programme of improvements across the area served by ATW.