THE number of complaints by Arriva Trains Northern (ATN) customers about the company's train services has fallen dramatically, new figures have shown.

Staff at the York-based train company said there was a 60 per cent drop in customer complaints in the last year, compared with the previous year.

Ray Price, ATN's managing director, said he believed the results were a "real indicator" on how the business had moved forward in the last 12 months.

In that time, a strike by conductors was resolved and the firm took steps to improve performance and reliability.

However, it still lost its Transpennine Express franchise.

Mr Price said: "We help over 100,000 people a day travel on one of the most complex rail networks in the UK, so to find that the number of dissatisfied customers has dropped so substantially is very welcome news.

"I believe this is a real indicator of how we have moved the business forward and are creating a more positive travel experience for the majority of our customers.

"We are committed to turning Arriva Trains Northern into the most improved train operator in the UK, and this is another step towards this target.

"Our latest passenger charter figures for April showed that we operated over 99 per cent of our services."

The figures also showed that use of the company's customer helpline has increased from about 80,000 calls a year to 130,000.

ATN bosses said the vast majority of calls came from people looking for advice.

Updated: 09:13 Saturday, May 03, 2003