Data mining (and undermining?) – punctuality figures

03 January 2013

More ‘on-time’ train performance data came out recently.

The on-time results for each train company have now been published by Network Rail. They make interesting reading.

Quite a few train companies are achieving pretty good scores. Others have some way to go. All of this flags up interesting issues for Government and industry as the plans for railway from 2014 to 2019 take shape.

The on-time results chime much more closely with the actual passenger experience. For years the Passenger Focus National Passenger Survey has recorded somewhat lower satisfaction with performance than the industry Public Performance Measure, which measures punctuality right at the end of the journey to within five or 10 minutes.

Of course, as the train progresses, passengers experience very different things. Passengers, as we know from our research, have a much keener sense of what ‘on time’ means.

Oddly there seems to be some doubt about the accuracy of some of this newly published data. Not a statement that will instil confidence in passengers.

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