Rail Customer Insight Report

What is it?
This report presents findings from qualitative research commissioned by Transport for the North and carried out by Ipsos. It is based on online focus groups with residents from across the North of England in late 2021 and early 2022. The research explores people’s experiences of rail travel, including journey planning, ticketing and fares, capacity, safety, COVID‑19 measures and barriers to using rail.

How is it useful?
The report provides insight into how passengers view and use the rail network as travel patterns recover. It helps inform rail policy, planning and service design by showing what matters most to customers, where the rail experience works well, and where improvements could support confidence, accessibility and future growth in rail use.