Grand Central has identified safety, passenger satisfaction, value for money and accessibility of travel as being the key elements of its service.

Safety

The assurance that at Grand Central we take the greatest care of our passengers, meeting the same exacting standards that are applied to all operators. Grand Central's Railway Safety Case has been developed directly at Board level, and HM Railway Inspectorate HMRI has identified our senior management as being "co-operative and responsive". The Safety Case received formal acceptance in March 2007.

Passenger Satisfaction

A personal service that is borne from our being small enough to care about everybody who travels with us but big enough to make a difference. We want you to enjoy your journey, know you are important to us and come back again soon. In the event of service disruption or problems we want you to feel you are being dealt with in a fair and equitable manner.

Value for Money

In a competitive transport market where travellers have choices we want Grand Central passengers to feel that the service they receive represents real value for money, and sets the standard for the market.

Grand Central believes that payment of the advertised fare should include a seat. Part of our commitment to passengers will be a 50% refund should a seat not be available. Grand Central also believe passengers should not be penalised for those last minute decisions to travel, and will offer a simple structure on tickets, easily understood by all, with no penalty for purchasing tickets on the train.

Watch Sky news's report on our 50% standing refund.

Read about our 'simple and fair' tickets at Times Online news article.

For those who have spent a lifetime contributing to the economy, the over 60s, Grand Central will offer a 50% discount on advertised fares, without the need to pre-purchase a railcard.

Accessibility

By offering new high speed rail services to many new communities, Grand Central will open up the network and make access to trains much easier. Over 70% of the journeys to be offered by Grand Central are not currently possible on a direct train.

Tickets will be offered via the internet, by phone, and in person, with passengers also able to purchase tickets on our trains without the financial penalties associated with other transport operators.

Grand Central is also aware of the growing difficulties of parking, and will offer a "personal" transport service at each station served, allowing the car to be left at home, or for those without transport, the opportunity of a guaranteed service to the station. We will also work with local authorities to improve access via better "park and ride" and inter-modal ticketing.

The provision of a “park and ride” site on the Northern edge of York has been supported by the local authority and will give intending passengers a guaranteed parking place and transfer to the station at a reasonable cost.