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National Rail Trends 2005–06 quarter 3 (October-December 2005)

24 March 2006
ORR/08/06

This edition covers quarter 3 (October-December 2005) of the financial year 2005-06.  The Public Performance Measure (PPM) figure for quarter 3 was 81.3% (see notes to editors 4), an increase of one percentage point on the same quarter the previous year. The Moving Annual Average for PPM at the end of December 2005 was 85.5%.

Other headline results:

Key findings in the report are:

Public Performance Measure (Section 2.1)

In October-December 2005 the national PPM figure was 81.3%, an improvement of one percentage point from October-December 2004.  At the train operators’ level, eleven train operating companies showed an improvement over this period, with Virgin West Coast achieving an increase of almost 15 percentage points. South West Trains, Silverlink and Southern all showed increases of over five percentage points.

13 operators showed a decrease in performance between 2004-05 quarter 3 and 2005-06 quarter 3. In the Long distance sector, the PPM for First Great Western decreased by more than eight percentage points over this period and the figure for ONE (Intercity) fell by over five percentage points. In the London and South East sector Thameslink and ONE showed decreases of four percentage points, whilst the PPM for Merseyrail decreased by over three percentage points, more than any other regional operator.

At the sector level, Long distance operators showed the largest improvement in performance figures, up by 1.8 percentage points (compared to October-December 2004) to 77.6%. London and South East operators’ performance increased by 1.3 percentage points to 83.2% over the whole day and also increased slightly during peak hours, from 77.7% to 77.9%. The performance of Regional operators increased by 0.6 percentage points to 79.5%. A table detailing the performance of individual operators is included at the end of this press notice.

Complaints (Section 2.2)

Complaints per 100,000 journeys for Long distance operators between October-December 2005 decreased by 15% since the same quarter in 2004. In contrast the complaints rates for London and South East operators and Regional operators increased by 9% and 16% respectively over the same period.

National Rail Enquiry Service (Section 2.3)

The National Rail Enquiry Service (NRES) took 8.7 million calls in October-December 2005, almost 30% less than the same quarter in 2004.

Rail usage (Section 1)

All sectors saw growth in total passenger revenue in October-December 2005 since the same quarter in 2004. Total passenger revenue, seasonally adjusted and at 2004-05 constant prices, increased by 4.9%. Between October-December 2004 and the same quarter in 2005, long distance operators experienced a 7.8% growth in both passenger kilometres and passenger journeys. For regional operators, passenger kilometres increased by 4.6% and passenger journeys by 7.2%. In the London and South East sector, passenger kilometres and passenger journeys increased by 2.5% and 7.6% respectively. Overall, timetabled train kilometres decreased slightly between 2004-05 quarter 3 and 2005-06 quarter 3.

Freight (Section 3)

Total freight moved increased by 8.4% between October-December 2004 and October-December 2005.  There was an increase of 24% in the amount of coal moved (measured in tonne-kilometres) over this period. Total freight lifted, measured in tonnes, increased by 6.3%.

Rolling Stock (Section 4.1)

The average (mean) age of rolling stock remained unchanged over the period 30 September 2005 to 31 December 2005, and is currently just under 13 years.

Government Subsidy (Section 4.2)

Government support (including PTE grants) to the rail industry increased from £3.6 billion in 2003-04 to £3.8 billion in 2004-05. This edition of National Rail Trends has a more detailed breakdown of Government support to the rail industry.

Fares Price Index (Section 5)

Between January 2005 and January 2006 regulated rail fares increased by 4.1% whilst the overall fares increase was 5.8% over the same period.

Public Performance Measure by train operating company

For the table giving Percentage of trains arriving on time 2005-06 Q3 please look at pages 16-17 of the National Rail Trends Q3 (see related links).

Notes for editors

  1. In July 2005 ORR took over the rail statistics function, formerly provided by the Strategic Rail Authority. Today ORR publishes the 22nd edition of the quarterly National Rail Trends, the third to be produced since this reorganisation. 
  2. This edition of National Rail Trends covers the period 1 October 2005 to 31 December 2005, and is available from the ORR website at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/276.pdf.  It provides trend data on a range of industry-wide indicators including key figures on rail usage and freight.
  3. Earlier editions of National Rail Trends and its predecessor On Track were the responsibility of the Strategic Rail Authority; these are now available on the ORR website http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk The 2004-05 Yearbook, published in June 2005 by the SRA, has been updated to take into account a number of minor revisions and corrections – the revised document is available on ORR’s website.
  4. The Public Performance Measure (PPM) combines figures for punctuality and reliability into a single performance measure. PPM replaced the Passenger’s Charter as the main means of measuring passenger train performance. PPM is the percentage of trains that run ‘on time’ compared to the total number of trains planned, where ‘on time’ means within five minutes of the scheduled arrival time for London and South East and Regional operators, and ten minutes for Long distance operators. There are currently a total of 24 train operating companies running passenger rail services in Britain.
  5. It was noted in the 2005-06 Q2 edition of NRT that passenger km and journey data was under review to reflect more accurately new products in the London market.  This had led to a break in series after 2004-05 Q3 and figures from 2004-05 Q4 onwards had been labeled provisional. Journey details for Travelcards sold by London Underground have to be estimated using a manual process. The assumptions used in these estimates were reviewed in an initial ATOC study which led to the provisional journeys and kilometres data reported in NRT from 2004-05 Q3. ATOC have now completed their review and their analysis of further Travelcard survey data has concluded that the effects of changes in customer behaviour resulting from the new products, and reported in the provisional data, was overestimated.  The new analysis has determined more realistic factors that result in the final figures presented here. These factors have also been applied respectively to ticket sales made in 2004 to reflect the timing of the introduction of the new products and also to enable a better comparison of trends moving forward.
  6. Freight moved takes into account the net weight (excluding the weight of the locomotive and wagons) of the goods carried (the freight lifted), measured in tonnes and the distance carried. Freight lifted is the mass of goods carried on the network. It excludes the weight of the locomotives and wagons. Unlike freight moved, it takes no account of the distance involved.    
  7. Quarterly figures are based on the following periods:
    Quarter 1 – April to June
    Quarter 2 – July to September
    Quarter 3 – October to December
    Quarter 4 – January to March
  8. PPM values for Hull Trains, a non-franchised operator, have been included for the first time. Note these values are not included in the sector or overall national PPM percentages.
  9. National Rail Trends includes data that are provisional and subject to revision in the light of new information.

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