Train punctuality and reliability declines
PUNCTUALITY on Britain’s railways in the second quarter of 2018-19 (Q2 2018-19, July to September) dropped by 2.5 percentage points (pp) compared with the corresponding three-month period in 2017-18.
Based on the Public Performance Measure (PPM), the Moving Annual Average (MAA) of 85.9% of trains on time in the year ending Q2 2018-19 was the worst quarterly recording since Q3 2005-06.
Reliability also worsened, with Cancellations and Significant Lateness (CaSL) increasing to a MAA of 4.6% in the quarter - a rise of 1.1pp compared with the year before and the worst since the third quarter of 2001-02.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), which published the statistics on December 6, says the fall in the MAA for punctuality was partially driven by disruption caused by the May 2018 timetable changes to Govia Thameslink Railway and Northern.
The quarterly figure for punctuality was 85.6% nationally, a 3.9pp decline against the same quarter in 2017-18. The actual CaSL figure was the same as the MAA, and a 1.3pp increase on Q2 2017-18.
Sectoral analysis shows that
performance in all sectors was worse than the year before.
In the London and the South East sector the PPM figure was 86.5%, a fall of 1.6pp. Reliability also suffered, with the CaSL measure increasing by 0.8pp to 4.7%. Among the reasons for this worsening in performance, the ORR cites:
■ A 400% rise in fleet failures for c2c, contributing to its lowest punctuality for the quarter (93.2%) since 200304.
■ A 95% increase in signal failures giving Chiltern its lowest Q2 punctuality (90.5%) since 2005-06.
■ A rise in track faults affecting Greater Anglia, whose quarterly PPM of 86.4% was the lowest since the time series began in 2004-05.
In the Regional and Scotland sector, the PPM figure was 85.8%, a 5.9pp drop compared with the year before and the worst since 2005-06. Meanwhile, CaSL rose by 1.5pp to 3.7%, the worst for the quarter since 2002-03.
ORR says Great Western Railway’s CaSL MAA of 5.2% was its worst since Q2 2001-02, with CaSL failures attributed to fleet problems up 51% year on year.
Bad weather affected ScotRail, with more than 2,000 PPM failures attributed to bad weather in the quarter. Its quarterly figure of 87.9% was the worst since 2005-06.
On West Midlands Trains, the number of PPM failures attributed to track faults rose by 57%, and its Q2 PPM of 85.8% was the lowest since 2006-07.
In the Long-Distance sector, punctuality for the quarter was the lowest since 2003-04, at 78%. CaSL increased to 8.6%, the worst quarterly reliability figure since 2003-04.
CrossCountry’s PPM of 80.9% was the lowest since 2004-05, with the number of PPM failures attributed to track faults up 169% year-on-year. Hull Trains’ well-documented fleet issues gave the operator its worst ever recorded CaSL figure of 11.1%, while London North Eastern Railway recorded the lowest Q2 punctuality (70.9%) for any inter-city East Coast operator since 2003-04.
The worst-performing operator was Hull Trains, with a MAA PPM for the quarter of 71.6%, followed by London North Eastern Railway (74.5%) and TransPennine Express (78%). The most punctual three operators were Merseyrail (down 0.4pp to 94.9%), c2c (down 0.5pp to 94.3%), and London Overground (down 1.2pp to 93.6%).