WPA winners-1

World Passenger Awards 2023

🌟 Celebrating passenger service excellence: meet our award winners! 🌟

Having returned from the World Passenger Festival sleep-deprived but bursting with ideas, we want to celebrate the amazing work being done by public transport operators across the globe. These remarkable individuals and organizations have set a new standard for dedication, innovation, and unwavering commitment to customer (or passenger) satisfaction.

Check out the finalists in each category, as well as the major trends in transport this year, in our World Passenger Awards Report — or read on to see the winners!

Download report

So who won what?

Curious about the methodology? Take a look at how we reached our conclusions.

Before we travel

For innovative apps, affordable prices, excellent booking processes, and outstanding support. Nominees in this category saw praise for:

Apps that helped them geo-locate their seats
Affordable prices compared to other options
Ease of making and changing reservations

Highly commended: HC Renfe

Winner: V/Line

At the station

For accurate info, cycling integration, station design, and amazing staff. Nominees in this category saw praise for:

Organised and easily understood information
Cyclists being able to pump their tyres
Staff going the extra mile to support their passengers

Highly commended: SJ AB

Winner: Brightline

Onboard

For catering options, first class comfort, and incredible onboard staff. Nominees in this category saw praise for:

Showcasing local cuisine and offering home-made treats
Friendly staff providing local information to leisure passengers
Comfortable seats and free wifi

Highly commended: Transport for Wales

Winner: Česke drahy

Access

For passenger assistance, responsive policy changes, and accommodations made for sensory issues. Nominees in this category saw praise for:

Staff ensuring passengers were able to make their trains
Adapting strategy and infrastructure based on feedback
Support for invisible disabilities

Highly commended: Amtrak

Winner: Merseyrail

Best bus

For accessibility, reliability, onboard facilities, and interconnectivity. Nominees in this category saw praise for:

Promotional offers
Digital innovations improving trust and accessibility
Friendly drivers providing support or waiting for passengers

Highly commended: Flix

Winner: Irish Citylink

Best metro

For quality of information, staff conduct, onboard facilities, and interconnectivity. Nominees in this category saw praise for:

Easy transfers to other forms of transport
Live onboard maps and easily accessible info
Comfort and cleanliness

Highly commended: Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe

Winner: Wiener Linien

Overall Award
And the winner is...

We saw an amazing amount of community positivity for this brand. People
went out of their way to recommend them to others, and there were
positive comments about facilities, value, service, and (especially) staff.

Congratulations to Irish Citylink, overall winners of the 2023 World Passenger Awards!

The hot topics of World Passenger Festival...

“Can AI make public transport safer?”

This was the topic of CSO Steve's talk at World Passenger Festival in Vienna (lauded by two strangers whose opinion Steve values greatly as the best talk of the conference).

In it, he presents research funded by innovation grants into the nature of bias in AI and how we can reduce the impact of this inherent bias.

Watch the talk here