Welsh trains now most punctual in Britain – report
WELSH trains have become the most punctual in Britain, according to new figures.
Arriva Trains Wales’ (ATW) improved record follows the completion of a £300m modernisation of Cardiff’s railways last Christmas and renewed efforts by the company to minimise train breakdowns.
Passengers’ group Railfuture Wales said tens of thousands of passengers were benefiting and urged more rail investment to help Wales prosper.
In the four weeks from April 30 to May 27, 85.4% of ATW services reached their final stations no more than 59 seconds late.
The average figure for Great Britain was 68.1%.
Great Western Railway, which serves south Wales, achieved 69.3% and Virgin Trains West Coast – operator of HolyheadLondon trains – 62.7%.
ATW’s nearest rival, on 81.6%, was Caledonian Sleeper, which operates a small number of overnight trains between London and Scotland.
The figures are published by infrastructure owner Network Rail, which cautions that these “right-time performance” statistics may not be 100% reliable. The industry’s alternative measure of punctuality allows up to five minutes’ grace, or 10 minutes’ grace for long-distance operators.
Five other train-operating companies had higher scores than ATW’s 93.7% under this measure, but categorising a train as punctual when it is up to five minutes late may strike some passengers as misleading – particularly on the Cardiff Bay line, where the journey to Queen Street takes three minutes end to end.
Railfuture Wales chair Peter Kingsbury said ATW’s “excellent performance” was probably helped by Network Rail’s resignalling of routes through Cardiff Central.
“This work was completed at the beginning of 2017 and, with the associated increase in services, has benefited the tens of thousands of passengers who pass through this station each day,” he said.
“Railfuture Wales calls for further significant investment from both Network Rail and the Welsh train operators to provide the people of Wales with a continually improving and more reliable train service, to enable rail to fulfil its potential as a prime driver of the country’s future prosperity.”
Andy Thomas, route managing director at Network Rail Wales, said recent performance statistics reflected investment in assets and collaboration between Network Rail and ATW. He said the Cardiff area signalling renewal was the biggest investment in the Welsh network for more than 100 years.
“The scheme has helped to bust congestion and deliver more reliable services for customers, following a major upgrade to Cardiff Central station, upgrades to the track layout at key points on the Cardiff and Valleys network, and the largest signalling phase of its kind ever commissioned on the rail network to replace outdated signalling,” said Mr Thomas.
The new Platform 8 for Valley Lines passengers at Cardiff Central had reduced congestion and meant services returned to normal quicker after any incidents, he said.
He added that the Champions League final in Cardiff had demonstrated collaborative working.
The punctuality statistics also reflect recent initiatives by ATW’s maintenance engineers to improve reliability. The diesel trains which operate local services around Cardiff – as well as reaching Pembrokeshire, Snowdonia and Merseyside – are 30 or more years old. Most of the 22 train-operating companies below ATW in the league table have newer trains.
Gregg Evans, ATW’s head of performance, said the continued improvement in ATW’s reliability and punctuality was the result of “a lot of hard work” by railway staff.