FREEZING temperatures, cable theft and trespassers caused delays for commuters travelling to the busiest route to the North East, with only 80% of trains running on time.
Mainline operator East Coast is the worst-performing company so far this year, with fewer trains running on time last month than in January 2010.
Figures, compiled by Network Rail – NR, show that between January 9 and February 5 only 80.9% of its trains were on time. Last night train company bosses blamed “external factors” for the delays and said their bid to boost safety had also affected punctuality times.
A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: “These latest figures show that punctuality levels have recovered since some of the most severe weather on record, and are testament to the hard work of train company and NR staff to get as many trains running on time as possible.
“But operators know that there is still more to do to reach the historically high levels of punctuality seen before the bad weather, and will continue to work hard to make sure passengers are getting the best possible service.”
An East Coast spokesman said: “Around four-fifths of our delays continue to be caused by external factors, such as cable theft, trespassers on the railway, weather-related problems and issues relating to the infrastructure.
“We are continuing to work closely and very proactively with NR to improve the resilience of the track, signals and our trains. Recent joint initiatives with NR have included reviewing planned engineering work to ensure this is completed on time, and improving level crossings and how we manage the busiest section of track on the route south of Peterborough.”
Nationally, eight of the 19 companies improved their punctuality in January 2011, with East Coast – which is in public ownership – having a trains-on-time figure 8.8% poorer than during snow-hit January 2010.
Overall, the companies ran 90.3% of trains on time last month – an improvement on the January 2010 figure of 89.5% and well up on the December 2010 performance, which was badly affected by this winter’s early-season snowfall.
The best-performing company last month was the Transport for London-managed London Overground which achieved a trains-on-time figure of 96.4%.
The company improving most was Virgin Trains with a punctuality figure on its West Coast services of 86.9% – a 9% rise on its January 2010 performance.
NR operations and customer services director Robin Gisby said: “It is good to see train performance bounce back and start to recover to the high levels passengers, and our customers, have come to expect. While this is good news, our focus remains on bringing all train operators up to the level of the very best performers and we are re-focusing our efforts, in partnership with the train operators, to improve the level of service experienced on the East Coast Main Line.”
