METROLINK passengers are increasingly satisfied with the tram services at a time of great change on the network, a survey has revealed.

Of 2,800 passengers questioned by Passenger Focus between September and November last year, 85 per cent said they were satisfied with their journey.

This showed a rise in satisfaction from 83 per cent.

Inparticular, 81 per cent who said they use Metrolink to get to work — around half of those surveyed — were satisfied, up from 76 per cent.

Additionally, the same ratio of passengers were satisfied with their usual journey.

The figures compared favourably to the level of satisfaction among Greater Manchester’s rail commuters, which was down from 66 per cent to 52 per cent.

Key year-on-year improvements were cited as punctuality; frequency; personal space; operating without delays; information about delays; passenger announcements and information at stops

Areas for improvement were signalled as: value for money; journey length; and maintaining reliability during works

Cllr Andrew Fender, chairman of Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) Committee, said: “This is the second year Metrolink has been part of the national Passenger Focus tram passenger survey, and the scores have improved in almost every area year-on-year.

“At a time when we’re making significant improvements that often have an impact on increasingly popular services, this is hugely encouraging and, along with record-breaking patronage, shows that we’re heading in the right direction.

“There is room for improvement but I am confident that the transformational projects currently being delivered will go a long way to achieving that: more trams and more frequent services providing more room, and real-time information at every stop."

In recent years, TfGM has retired all the older and increasingly unreliable T68 trams, replacing them with new M5000 trams as part of an ongoing investment to increase the operational fleet from 32 vehicles to 120.

Free unlimited WiFi is now available on every tram and real-time information has been rolled out to 85 per cent of the network’s stops, with the remaining stations on the Bury and Altrincham lines to follow over the course of 2015.

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