On time railway – watchdog welcomes new punctuality statistics

19 September 2019

Commenting on the Office of Rail and Road punctuality statistics Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said:

“Passengers’ biggest priority for their train service is punctuality – they need to be able to rely on getting to work, home, or crucial appointments at the expected time. Clearly one-third of trains running late is not acceptable.

“Transport Focus welcomes the industry heeding its call for the figures to reflect actual arrival times rather than allowing trains up to ten minutes late to count as ‘on time’. This will help rebuild trust in the railway. But proper reporting isn’t enough on its own, so we are pleased to see this renewed focus on driving up punctuality.

“It’s good to see a year on year improvement but clearly there is a long way to go. In the meantime, we urge passengers to continue to #makedelaypay and to claim Delay Repay every time they are delayed.”

Notes to editors

In the last wave of Transport Focus’s National Rail Passenger Survey, almost 30,000 passengers gave their feedback.

Overall passenger satisfaction with the railway rose nationally to 83 per cent – up significantly compared to the previous year (81 per cent). This followed an increase in satisfaction with punctuality/reliability, from 72 per cent in spring 2018 to 77 per cent this spring.