Our annual train service performance

On this page:

Information and tickets

Before you set off

You can buy tickets for travel in advance or on the day of travel here on our website, on our app or at one of our station travel centres.

You can book assistance with your journey as you purchase your ticket too, don't worry if you don't do this at the same time, but let us know at least 2 hours before you travel so we can ensure there's someone at the station or on the train to help you.

At the station

All our trains have clear signage next to each door highlighting the coach letter and seat numbers.

For ticket purchases and refunds visit our station Travel Centres. You can check opening hours here (select the relevant station after opening the link)

Platforms and departure times can be found on large screens located next to or near to the travel centres at every station.

Onboard the train

Inside our trains there is information about the toilets, exits and seat numbers as well as how to order food to be delivered to your seat and where the Cafe Bar is located.

The auto announcer – and the train manager - will announce any relevant information about your journey including the next station, delays to your journey (including onward connection information) or changes to facilities onboard.

Safety information is located as you board each train in the ‘vestibule’ - the little area that you pass through before getting to your seat

You can also read how we're making rail accessible here:

Information during your journey

During your journey you can stay up to date with where you and the train is via LNER Assistant, our onboard Wi-Fi, or you can check our journey planner tool for up to date times. Announcements will continue to be made throughout the journey – and information about calling points is also displayed on LED displays in each carriage.

Ticket changes and refunds

If you need to change or refund your ticket you can do this from the place you originally bought your ticket from. For ticket changes and refunds you can visit our dedicated page here.

Cleanliness

Our stations

We have a dedicated cleaning team working in our stations.

• When the station is open to you, there are always cleaners on hand to keep the station environment as clean, safe and clear of litter as possible

• We are wiping down all our customer and colleague touch points and dedicated staff members are cleaning our station toilets to the highest standards

• During 20/21 we increased the frequency of our cleaning across our route, and introduced a two-stage disinfectant process – all of which we continue to maintain

• We also have three deep cleaning teams working across the route who deep clean our stations out of hours to ensure that detailed work can be carried out and our stations are ready for you, when they open again in the morning.

• During 24/25, 64.6% of customers told us via our customer survey that they were ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ satisfied with cleanliness on our stations

• During 24/25, 55.9% of customers told us via our customer survey that they were ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ satisfied with cleanliness of the toilets at our stations

On our trains

Our trains are cleaned after each journey and every 30-days they are deep cleaned. We conduct several independent train cleaning audits each month across our locations to ensure the standards we require are being met.

Train cleaning audits are carried out against an agreed criterion for:

• 'What clean looks like' and allocated a score of good, satisfactory, or unacceptable.

• Appropriate weighting is applied to the scoring and any overall audit score below 90% is considered unacceptable.

• During 24/25, 76.4% of customers told us via our customer survey that they were ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ satisfied with the cleanliness of carriages and seating areas on board the train.

• Customers were less satisfied with the cleanliness of the toilets onboard, and we currently have a plan in place in partnership with Hitachi to address these challenges and make improvements for our customers.

Air quality inside and out

• On our trains, the train ventilation system ensures a continuing supply of fresh air

• We are undertaking air quality monitoring in our stations with RSSB to check for any areas of poorer air quality and develop improvement plans where required

• To improve air quality at our stations, we promote sustainable travel to and from our stations with secure bike racks placed in our stations, bike reservations on our trains, and the introduction of our door-to-door app.

Complaints, refunds and compensation

How we deal with your complaints and what to expect can all be found in our detailed 'Customer complaints handling procedure' pdf.

Below shows the number of complaints, the topics and the outcomes for 24/25:

Volume of complaints closed: 24,015

Received complaints: 26,141

Processed complaints in 20 working days: 97.76%

Average response time: 10.7 working days.

Categories for complaints:

1. Facilities on board – 7131 (increase of 10% YoY)

2. Punctuality / Reliability - 6658 (increase of 42% YoY)

3. Ticketing and refunds policy – 2778 (increase of 12% YoY)

4. Helpfulness and attitude of staff on train – 2030 (increase of 22% YoY)

5. Compensation claims process – 1987 (increase of 24% YoY)

Praise received for our staff – 4089 (increase of 25% YoY)

NB: Although the volume of complaints received saw a minor uplift. The volume of complaints closed saw a 12% uplift due to closing complaints received in the previous year and finishing the year with very few outstanding complaints.

Improvement actions taken:

Facilities on board (7131 complaints closed)

Over the last three years the volume of complaints we have received regarding facilities has remained relatively steady. The largest subset of complaints regarding on board facilities relate the First-Class Catering offering (approximately 30% of on train quality complaints), with most complaints regarding First Class Catering surrounding the complimentary food availability. There continues to be a correlation between complaints about the availability of complimentary food and service disruption. Unfortunately, during disruptive events, due to last minute changes to timetables and staffing it is not always possible to provide the expected level of service that our First-Class customers come to expect.

Despite issues faced during disruption, our catering team have been working with our Machine Learning team to use technology to assist with ordering the correct quantities of food four our services to ensure that customers are more likely to be able to order their first-choice preferences when travelling with us. Additionally, with our upcoming “Velocity” timetable uplift (from 5 services per hour, to 6 services per hour) – we are recruiting additional on-board staff to ensure we can continue to offer an industry leading on board service.

Disruptive events also drive complaints regarding availability of seating. Working with our sister DFTO TOC’s (Northern, TransPennine Express and South Eastern) – we have agreed reciprocal travel arrangements during periods of disruption. With this agreement in place for the coming year it should provide travellers with additional options when deciding on which service to board upon.

Punctuality / Reliability (6658 complaints closed)

The volume of complaints regarding Train Service Performance is understandably linked to disruptive events. During Periods 5, 6 and 7 this year (August – October) LNER saw a handful of exceptionally disruptive events during peak leisure travel periods. Almost 45% of complaints regarding punctuality and reliability related to these few disruptive events.

Disruption working groups have taken place with multiple functions and directorates within LNER, along with industry partners to better align processes during periods of disruption. Plans are afoot to create bespoke customer messaging when customers travel with us. So in the event of disruption (either minor or major) we can provide customers with the most up to date information along with alternative options in the event of cancellations.

Ticketing and refunds policy (2778 complaints closed)

Whenever we experience periods of disruption, customers travel plans understandably change. As such we often see an increase in complaints regarding refund and ticketing policies. At the start of FY 2025-26, LNER’s contact centre will be transitioning to a new CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. This new system will help connect multiple back of systems in use by LNER and will help streamline multiple processes including requests for refunds.

LNER continues to pilot the ‘Simple Fares’ scheme with plans to expand across our route to include further journeys. This follows the roll out of the single leg pricing scheme the previous year. The introduction of the semi-flexible ticket has seen very few complaints regarding this innovative new product.

Helpfulness and attitudes of staff on train (2030 complaints closed)

Dedicated training continues for all of our on-board colleagues via regularly scheduled Team Engagement Days. One key topic during the training days has been the rollout of new frontline mobile applications for our colleagues to be able to access real-time live information. Additionally in 2025-26 we have introduced MAPP (Managers App) whereby front line managers can capture in the moment feedback (both positive and negative) for our front line colleagues. As this app is rolled out we will be capturing the data and be able to provide a raft of new management information.

This will be coupled with a revamp of our complaints data following the introduction of the new CRM will provide front line managers with better trend analysis data when dealing with complaints regarding their teams.

Compensation claims process (1987 complaints closed)

During FY 2024-25 LNER migrated to a brand-new Delay Repay processing engine. This has improved our performance across many areas of handling delay repay claims and we are better place to approve claims the first time. As with any migration to a new system there was understandably some hurdles, particularly during the crossover period between the old system and new system. Unfortunately, this change between systems coincided during a period of increased volumes which impacted our volumes of complaints regarding the claims process.

Further improvements to the back-office systems will be taking place during 2025-26 which will see further improvements. Our current average handling time is just over 2 working days, however we are aiming to get to as close to same-day processing as possible. We continue to offer a ‘one-click delay repay’ offering whereby when customers book directly with LNER we proactively advise customers of their available compensation and they can claim it with ‘one click’, we have continued to receive positive feedback from our customers for this innovative solution.