TRAIN 'PUNCTUALITY' INCREASES TO 87%

THE ‘punctuality’ of passenger train services, as measured by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), increased to 87% in the three months July to September.

The public performance measure (PPM) figure — based on long-distance trains arriving within 10 minutes of scheduled time, and other services within five minutes — compared with 83% in the same quarter last year.

The national moving annual average for PPM at the end of September 2005 was 85.3%, one percentage point up on the year to June 2005, said the ORR.

Other headline results, according to the SRA, were:

* Comparing July - September 2005 with the same period in 2004:
- South West Trains and Virgin West Coast achieved an increase of over 10 percentage points.
- Gatwick Express, Southern, Silverlink, Central Trains, and Virgin CrossCountry all showed increases of over five percentage points during this time.
- Seven operators showed a decrease in performance: ONE (Intercity) PPM decreased by 6.2 percentage points, whilst Chiltern and First Great Western also showed decreases of over two percentage points.

* Complaints per 100,000 journeys in July - September 2005 for long-distance operators decreased by 5.8% but for regional operators increased by 5%;

* All sectors saw growth in total passenger revenue in July - September 2005, compared with the same quarter in 2004;

* Long distance and regional operators both experienced growth in total passenger journeys and total passenger kilometres in July - September 2005, compared with the same quarter in 2004;

* Total freight moved increased by 4.5% in July - September 2005 compared with the same quarter in 2004. There was a significant increase of almost 24% in the amount of coal moved, measured in tonne-kilometres, over this period. However total freight lifted, measured in tonnes, decreased by 2.5% over this period.

* Between 30 June 2005 and 30 September the overall average age of rolling stock decreased by almost seven months, to just under 13 years. This particularly reflects the introduction of new rolling stock by London and South East operators.


SOURCE RAILNEWS

 

The puctuality may also be something to do with slower schedules .... Isleworth to Waterloo for instance is 5 mins slower this year and gone are the days of getting from Waterloo to Alton in just over an hour.