New measurements reveal improvement in punctuality

THE punctuality and reliability of passenger trains improved on all measures between July and September 2019 (Q2 2019-20), according to the latest statistics released by the Office of Rail and Road.

For the new On Time measure, which records the percentage of station stops arrived at within a minute of the scheduled time, a 3.3 percentage point (pp) improvement over the corresponding three-month period in 2018 was recorded, to a level of 65.1% of trains on time.

The less precise Public Performance Measure showed a 1.4pp rise to 87.3%, while cancellations fell by 0.2pp to 2.8% of trains. These statistics were all on a moving annual average basis.

All but four operators recorded improvements in punctuality.

Great Western Railway topped the improvement table with a 9.5pp rise to 66.2% of trains arriving on time, followed by Govia Thameslink Railway (up 7.4pp to 71.2%) and open access operator Heathrow Express (up 7.1pp to 82.4%).

Only West Midlands Trains, Virgin Trains West Coast, TfW Rail and

South Western Railway recorded declines.

In terms of overall on-time punctuality, c2c topped the table at 84% of trains, followed by Heathrow Express with 83.4% and

TfL Rail with 77.7%. The worst three performers were Hull Trains (39.5%) TransPennine Express (40.5%) and LNER (42.6%).

On reliability, Merseyrail recorded the fewest cancellations (1.2% of trains cancelled), just ahead of Chiltern (1.3%) and c2c and East Midlands Railway (both 1.5%).

Hull Trains was the least reliable with 5.6% of trains cancelled, with TransPennine Express (5.2%) and GTR (4.2%) making up the bottom three.

The largest decrease in cancellations was recorded by Great Western Railway (down 1.5pp to 2.1%), and the largest increase by London Overground (up 0.6pp to 3.3%).

Train operators were responsible for more than half (50.5%) of cancellations, with Network

Rail infrastructure and network management (such as track and signalling) at fault for 28%.

External infrastructure issues such as severe weather and trespass caused 17.1% of cancellations, with the remaining 4.4% blamed on external train operator issues such as passengers being taken ill on trains.

An ORR analysis attributes an 11pp improvement in GWR punctuality (in absolute rather than moving annual average terms) to better timetable planning and fewer signalling, power supply and fleet failures.

Fewer track circuit failures, better timetable planning and reduced external delays also helped TransPennine Express improve its overall reliability in the quarter.

Overhead line equipment faults hit West Midlands Trains and Virgin West Coast hard, while an increase in cancellations on Caledonian Sleeper was blamed on a 186% increase in delay minutes attributed to ‘technical fleet’ and an 83% rise in train operation delays.