Romanians, Poles and Bulgarians are the most dissatisfied Europeans with the services of the rail companies in their countries, accusing the long duration of travel, lack of cleanliness, punctuality and reliability of trains, according to an Eurobarometer survey on citizen satisfaction among the EU member states.

Romania ranks second to last based on the number of people who travel by train in their spare time, with 39 percent. About the information services on the program and train platforms, Romanians reach the sixth position in the EU as a degree of dissatisfaction, with 20 percent, at tie with France and the Czech Republic.

Romanians are among the most dissatisfied Europeans regarding the personal safety in train stations, reaching the second position, with 36 percent. As for security inside the trains, the Romanians reach the third place as discontent, with 32 percent, after Poland, with 40 percent.

Romania ranks fourth, along with Hungary, on the level of discontent in the cleaning and maintenance facilities in the train stations, with 56 percent. About the quality of facilities and services such as cafes, toilets and shops, 49 percent of the passengers in Romania are not satisfied, as in the Czech Republic, the two countries ranking fifth in the EU.

In Romania, Greece, Estonia, Latvia and Germany, between 41 percent and 44 percent of rail passengers were “very satisfied” or “rather satisfied” with the provision of information and assistance for disabled and elderly rail passengers.

Rail transport in Romania is provided mainly by the state company CFR. Other private operators are also active, but their volume of passenger transport activity is low.

The Eurobarometer survey was conducted by Gallup in Romania, between March 21 to 29 this year. Read the full study(in Pdf format) here.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com