TRAIN operator East Coast – servicing the Doncaster to King's Cross line – has been awarded four stars in a leading benchmarking scheme for organisational performance.
It has achieved the accolade from the British Quality Foundation as part of its Recognised for Excellence programme.
East Coast managing director Karen Boswell said: "This is a fantastic achievement and reflects a great deal of effort which has gone in to reaching the required standard.
"It's a valuable award which is internationally recognised, and which ensures there is a clear benchmark of success and continuous improvement programme in place for the future of the East Coast business.
"It's the first time in the history of our franchise that we have received such accreditation, which makes this achievement all the more impressive. I'm very proud of our team at East Coast and our success in turning around the business in just three-and-a-half years."
It comes a month after it became the first UK train operator to be named as one of Britain's top employers for a second year, following an independent assessment of its human resources practices and employee benefits.
The latest award was based on an external analysis of its overall performance and achievements since it began operating trains and managing stations on the East Coast Main Line in November 2009. The award is in place for two years.
East Coast's submission focused on leadership, people, strategy, partnership, resource and process.
British Quality Foundation chief executive Joe Goasdoué said: "East Coast is clearly an organisation that is well on its way to achieving and sustaining excellence."