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, from one of our station travel centres or using our station ticket vending machines, or from our Customer Solutions Centre.

You can book assistance with your journey as you purchase your ticket.

You can book assistance with your journey as you purchase your ticket. You can book your Passenger Assist up to 2 hours before your journey. If you are not able to book in advance, let us know when you arrive at the station and the team will be happy to help.

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. Each carriage also has passenger information screens which show the journey destination and stops along the way.

Safety information is located as you board each train in the ‘vestibule’ - the small 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 25/26, 64.7% of customers told us via our customer survey that they were ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ satisfied with cleanliness on our stations

• During 25/26, 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 25/26, 75.9% 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 (who maintain our trains) to address these challenges and make improvements for our customers.

Air quality inside and out

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

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

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 25/26:

Volume of Complaints closed: 31,263

Received Complaints: 34,019

Processed Complaints in 20 working days: 96.71%

Average response time: 9.5 working days

Categories for Complaints closed:

1. Punctuality / Reliability – 7161 (Increase of 8% YoY)

2. Facilities on board – 5261 (Decrease of 26% YoY)

3. Ticketing and refunds policy – 2642 (Decrease of 5% YoY)

4. Provision of information on website or mobile apps – 1985 (Increase of 650%) (please see below for further information relating to this)

5. Sufficient room for all passengers to sit/stand - 1699 (Increase of 40% YoY) Praise received for our staff – 2833

Improvement actions taken:

Punctuality / Reliability (7161 complaints closed)

Complaints volumes relating to train service performance is always directly linked to service disruption that affects our network. This year saw a particularly disruptive period impacting October and November, whereby in October alone we closed over 1000 complaints regarding disruptive events.

At the start of December 2025, LNER introduced its new ‘Velocity’ timetable signalling a significant uplift in services. As part of this introduction, a full review of disruption planning had taken place, with a prescriptive plan in place for both when and where disruption happens, for what services to run to keep as many people moving as possible. Across the first 12 weeks of the new timetable, we have seen it embed effectively with almost 70% of services arriving within 3 minutes of their scheduled time, surpassing our targets.

In 2026 we will have the full opening of the revamped Darlington station providing us with an additional platform, thus reducing bottlenecks. We continue to focus on the safe and timely dispatch of all of our services to ensure they get on their way on time, whilst being proactive on stations, seeking out those who may need extra assistance or help with luggage to help keep trains running on times. Our station colleagues are also making full use of dispatch tools, including the use of wireless roving microphones to help assist with managing platform flows and ensuring customers are in the correct areas. As part of the roll out of the Velocity timetable we have recruited an additional 40 Passenger Assist roles across the route so we can continue to deliver the excellent service our customers expect.

Facilities on board (5261 complaints closed)

The vast majority of complaints related to on board facilities relate to issues surrounding the first class catering provision. Whilst we offer an industry leading first class on board experience, our customers understandably have high expectations, therefore when issues arise customers are likely to seek out a resolution. The largest sub-category of complaints has been regarding complimentary food availability in first class. There is often a direct correlation between these complaints and service disruption, as understandably when disruption affects our network this can either affect the supply line for stocking our services or see an influx of additional customers on our services that were not originally planned for. However, we have seen complaint volumes relating to the onboard offering reduce by approximately a quarter.

Work has taken place behind the scenes on a new first class offering, streamlining our menus as well as refreshing our standard class catering offering. Additionally we have continued to roll out and monitor our ‘MAPP’ (Managers App) whereby managers can provide feedback to our on board crews relating to their standards. This is then reviewed within our periodic Standards Working group where this feedback is monitored alongside complaints data.

Ticketing and refunds policy (2642 complaints closed)

We have seen a minor reduction in complaints relating to ticketing and refunds policies. As with complaints regarding train service performance, complaint volumes are invariably linked to network disruption, as the more disruption we see, the more customers may ask for a refund on their journey. LNER has continued with its ‘Simpler Fares’ scheme across the route, along with the 70 minute flex ticket which has seen improvements for customers regarding the ability to easily change onto a slightly earlier or later service rather than be fixed onto a specific train.

At the end of this financial year LNER has also been proactively communicating with customers the national changes to the refund policy whereby a refund is no longer available on or after the date of travel (when there has not been disruption). Recent feedback has shown that these messages are being received clearly by LNER customers.

Provision of information on website or mobile apps (1985 complaints closed)

Although we have seen an increase in complaints regarding provision of information on the website/app, this was in fact due to the unauthorised access to files managed by a third-party supplier, impacting our customers in the Autumn of 2025. Following proactive communications to our customers of this issue, we consequently and understandably received complaints about the situation. As with any data breach in any organisation, LNER conducted a thorough review whilst maintaining contact with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) of the situation. Unfortunately, the root cause was identified with a third-party supplier, nonetheless we continued with a full internal review.

The ICO have determined that regulatory action is not required in relation to this. Although this incident was the cause of the majority of complaints in this category, LNER are none-the-less continuing to improve information on our website and app. Earlier in the year a full review of the website content took place and in the upcoming year we will introduce a new digital initiative to simplify how customers get in touch with us. Alongside this, we are exploring adding additional multi-lingual capability into our online platforms to benefit both our international travellers and those for whom English is not their first language..

Sufficient room for all passengers to sit/stand (1699 complaints closed)

Disruptive events continue to cause complaints relating to there being sufficient seating, the cancellation of services (whether forced upon us or intentional to recover services) causes additional passengers needing to board different services. As part of our Velocity timetable uplift, we will have almost 10,000 new services, equating to 32 additional services each weekday along with faster journey times.

We now have an additional 85,000 seats per week to help with capacity issues. Our revenue management team are working on an aligned strategy to encourage customers to move to the new services to balance customer loadings from the busiest trains. A key level in mitigating crowding on specific services is through dynamic pricing. Customers who are flexible with their timings are encouraged to travel on quieter services, thus alleviating issues whereby there may otherwise not be sufficient room to sit.