For customers

KPI: Customer satisfaction

We measure customer satisfaction with Wavelength, the rail industry’s customer service monitoring and measuring tool. It measures how satisfied our customers are with their overall journey.

Overview

Rail customer satisfaction improved by 4 percentage points to 87% from Q1 2024/25. We closely analyse customer feedback from surveys to improve our services and infrastructure.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA) goals addressed:

1. A Prosperous Wales

5. A Wales of Cohesive Communities

Forward look

In 2025/26, we will use customer satisfaction surveys to better understand our customers' needs so we can implement targeted improvements across our network.

KPI: Complaints per 100k rail journeys

Any expression of dissatisfaction by a customer or potential customer about TfW Rail as a proportion of 100,000 rail passenger journeys.

Overview

In Q1 2025/25, complaints per 100k Rail Journeys have increased compared to the same period last year. This can mostly be attributed to a single incident on the Marches Line in May which caused significant disruption for our customers.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA) goals addressed:

1. A Prosperous Wales

5. A Wales of Cohesive Communities

Forward look

We're making it easier for our customers to share feedback or make a complaint by improving our online webform. It’s being designed to help give us all the details we need to respond quickly and helpfully. We have also recently launched our own customer experience survey and will soon be inviting our customers to leave a review on Trustpilot to provide more ways for customers to share their experiences and feedback with us.

KPI: Rail passenger journeys

The total number of rail passengers who bought tickets across the Wales & Borders network. This includes Core Valley Lines and Wales & Cross Borders.

Overview

Rail Passenger Journeys increased 7.4 % in Q1 2025/26 compared to Q1 2024/25. This growth was driven predominantly by medium-distance journeys (20-50 miles), particularly in South Wales and the North.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA) goals addressed:

1. A Prosperous Wales

2. A Resilient Wales

5. A Wales of Cohesive Communities

Forward look

In 2025/26, we aim to attract new customers by enhancing the services we offer. We'll increase demand by simplifying fares and improving value.

KPI: Core Valley Lines On Time (to 3 minutes)

The percentage of rail services arriving within 3 minutes of the scheduled arrival time across the Core Valley Lines. This is referred to internally as Passenger Time Lost. A weighting is applied to railway stations with the highest volume of customers so delays at higher footfall locations have a greater impact on the measure. For example, delays at Cardiff Queen Street have a greater impact on the percentage compared to Treherbert.

Overview

In Q1 of 2025/26, punctuality on the Core Valley Lines increased and represented our best period of performance since a major timetable uplift in June 2024. We continued to roll out more of our brand new tri-mode trains (with 14 now in daily service) which help deliver a highly punctual service.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA) goals addressed:

1. A Prosperous Wales

5. A Wales of Cohesive Communities

Forward look

We'll shortly introduce more new trains to the Core Valley Lines and make further improvements to our infrastructure. We'll continue to work with Network Rail to increase punctuality and reduce disruption.

KPI: Wales and Cross Borders On Time (to 3 minutes)

The percentage of rail services arriving within 3 minutes of the scheduled arrival time across Wales and Cross Borders, this is internally referred to as Passenger Time Lost. A weighting is applied to railway stations with the highest volume of customers so delays at higher footfall locations have a greater impact on the measure. For example, delays at Cardiff Central have a higher impact to the percentage compared to Pontypool and New Inn.

Overview

In Q1, punctuality on the Wales & Cross Borders route dipped slightly in comparison to Q1 2024/25 (primarily as a result of a series of high impacting rail infrastructure incidents). We continue to improve train reliability and availability, with carriage formations and customer capacity increasing month-on-month. New trains are now running in passenger service across nearly all of the network.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA) goals addressed:

1. A Prosperous Wales

5. A Wales of Cohesive Communities

Forward look

We'll shortly introduce more new trains which will further reduce journey times and improve punctuality on the Wales and Cross Borders network. We will work with our suppliers to improve train availability and reliability. We'll work with Network Rail to improve timetable reliability and mitigate the impact of other disruptions.

KPI: On-the-day cancellations

The percentage of rail services cancelled on the day across the network as a proportion of the total number of services specified in the daily train plan.

Overview

Cancellations reduced slightly in comparison to Q1 2024/25. This has been facilitated by an improvement in train availability and on previously poorly performing routes. We've also implemented contingency plans to improve rapid service recovery when things do go wrong.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA) goals addressed:

1. A Prosperous Wales

5. A Wales of Cohesive Communities

Forward look

On-the-Day Cancellations caused by train shortages should reduce as more new trains are introduced. We are also focusing on strategies that will reduce disruption for passengers in the event of extreme weather, train maintenance and infrastructure issues.

KPI: Pre-cancellations

The percentage of rail services cancelled prior to 10pm the day before operation as a proportion of the total number of services specified in the daily train plan.

Overview

Pre-cancellations were minimal during the quarter. This reflected our careful resource planning, ensuring there were enough train drivers, conductors and other safety critical colleagues to operate the timetable. For our train drivers, Sundays are now part of their working week, resulting in an improved Sunday service.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA) goals addressed:

1. A Prosperous Wales

5. A Wales of Cohesive Communities

Forward look

We will maintain the number of Drivers, Conductors and other safety critical colleagues so that future timetable enhancements can be delivered and colleague training for our new trains can take place. The risk of conductor shortages on Sundays will be reduced this year when Sundays will be included in the working week.

KPI: TrawsCymru complaints per 100k journeys

Any expression of dissatisfaction by a customer or potential customer about TrawsCymru T1, T1C, T2, T3, T6, T10 journeys as a proportion of 100,000 TrawsCymru passenger journeys.

Overview

Complaints per 100 remain at a consistent low level throughout the quarter and follows the upward trend of the previous financial year. We continue to engage and listen to our customers and have held a number of roadshows. We're introducing enhancements to the T1 service in July following feedback from our customers. A number of changes were implemented in June 2025 for T3 following feedback from customers at our roadshows in November 2024, with a refined timetable and route to offer better connections and to improve reliability and resilience to deliver a more accessible service.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA) goals addressed:

1. A Prosperous Wales

5. A Wales of Cohesive Communities

Forward look

In 2025/26, we will continue to hold customer engagement events to gather feedback on our service and prioritise areas for improvement. We will pilot a second driver training course with our drivers with emphasis on the customer experience. We will ensure that there is enough capacity for our network at busier times.

KPI: TrawsCymru passenger journeys

The total number of passengers carried on the TrawsCymru T1, T1C, T2, T3, T6, T10 routes.

Overview

TrawsCymru Passenger Journeys continue to increase. Our consistent operating standards, fare structures and the further expansion of integrated rail and bus tickets continues to attract new customers. There have been significant increases in customers on services when compared to Q1 2024/25. We saw a 26% increase on T10 (Bangor to Corwen), 14% increase on T2 (Bangor to Aberystwyth) and a 11% increase on T6 (Brecon to Swansea) routes. We have introduced a through ticket on T6, which allows customers to change seamlessly to two other routes in Powys without having to purchase another ticket. This integration has attracted a 72% increase in digital ticket sales in Q1 2025/26 compared to Q1 2024/25.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA) goals addressed:

1. A Prosperous Wales

2. A Resilient Wales

5. A Wales of Cohesive Communities

Forward look

In 2025/26, we will continue to provide TrawsCymru customers with a consistent and high standard of service across the network. We will standardise our fare structure as more TrawsCymru routes join TfW and we will provide high standards of service as all of our drivers will receive customer satisfaction training. We'll continue to modernise our fleet of buses.

KPI: TrawsCymru cancellations

The percentage of scheduled TrawsCymru T1, T1C, T2, T3, T6, T10 journeys that were cancelled on-the day.

Overview

TrawsCymru journey cancellations were consistently low in the quarter and service delivery standards remained high. Any cancellations were primarily due to traffic congestion, especially during the bank holiday traffic in April, or short notice road closures. We continue to focus on punctuality and reliability.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA) goals addressed:

1. A Prosperous Wales

5. A Wales of Cohesive Communities

Forward look

In 2025/26, our focus will remain on monitoring trends and root causes of cancellations to help us minimise disruption to customers. We will be investing in customer information systems that will notify customers who regularly use a service of any potential disruption.

KPI: Welsh language external complaints per 100k journeys

New complaints per 100,000 passenger journeys (TrawsCymru and Rail) to the Welsh Language Commissioner when the complainant has not received a service in Welsh from TfW or if they were dissatisfied with how TfW’s decision on a Welsh language issue.

Overview

Welsh Language External Complaints per 100K Journeys decreased when compared to Q1 2024/25. The majority of open complaints have agreed action plans, with allocated resources and budgets. These relate to announcements at stations and onboard our older rail fleet, e-marketing titles being in English first and Welsh second and retiring old English-only customer platforms.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA) goals addressed:

6. A Wales of Vibrant Culture and Thriving Welsh Language

Forward look

In 2025/26, we will continue to monitor our Welsh language provision for customers and staff. This includes communication about infrastructure improvements and our work with external partners to ensure Welsh language standards are rigorously adhered to and that Welsh cultural opportunities are shared. Our Welsh Language Strategy is available on our website and aligns with the Welsh Government’s strategy of having one million Welsh speakers by 2050. TfW's contribution to Welsh Government's annual compliance is monitored in the Welsh Language Standard report.