The number of complaints from Arriva Trains Northern customers has fallen by 60 per cent this year.

The company runs the TransPennine Express through Burnley, Accrington and Blackburn and has been criticised in the past after strikes by conductors and question marks over reliability.

Ray Price, Arriva Trains Northern's managing director, 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."

The company has not released the actual numbers of complaints.