RAIL passengers who use East Coast trains have been invited to have their say on the service.

Independent watchdog Passenger Focus is working with the Department for Transport to collect passengers’ personal experiences of stations, trains and customers service from East Coast.

With the East Coast franchise, currently run by the Government, going out to tender the information collected in the survery, with all personal details removed, will be passed on to the different companies bidding to run the services from February 2015.

The companies will use the feedback to present their vision for the future service, based around what customers want.

Previous research by Passenger Focus has highlighted the key issues for passengers, while the latest survey – at passengerfocus.org.uk/key-issues/passenger-power – will give passengers the opportunity to describe their experiences and share thoughts on improving it in the future.

Passenger Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: “We have long said that as one of the main funders of the railway, passengers’ voices must be heard. Passengers tell us they want more information and more of a say in big decisions made on their behalf.

“This is a good opportunity for people to let companies know what they actually want from future services.”

Feedback must be entered by January 27. The raw data will be published shortly afterwards and shared with the companies bidding to run the East Coast franchise.