Rail regulator welcomes record punctuality figures but says rail users should be able to expect less disruption from Network Rail’s engineering work

28 August 2008
ORR/27/08

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) today welcomed record train punctuality figures, but said that Network Rail must work more efficiently to minimise the disruption its engineering work causes to all rail users.

In its National rail review, published today, ORR comments on a positive set of indicators which show that train punctuality has exceeded 90% - its best level for more than 10 years. But, the regulator also highlights that Network Rail will need to reduce by more than a third the disruption caused to passengers by engineering work.

Bill Emery, ORR chief executive said: “The latest figures are excellent news for most passengers.  However, the regular closure of parts of the network for engineering work causes substantial disruption and inconvenience to many passengers and freight customers, as well as deterring others from using the network altogether. For rail to make its full contribution to our economy it is important that this disruption is reduced significantly. We have been taking steps to ensure this happens.

“Over the next five years Network Rail must continue to carry out a full schedule of maintenance and renewal of the infrastructure, together with a massive programme of enhancements to increase network capacity. But work by Network Rail and train operators has shown that it should be possible both to achieve increased efficiency and to reduce disruption to train services by adopting best practice and exploiting technological advances. We expect the railway to be kept open for business for as much time as is possible, and we propose to set Network Rail a target to reduce disruption to passengers by 17% within three years and 37% within five years.”

The regulator has also told Network Rail to implement a programme of improvements to the way it manages engineering possessions to reduce unplanned disruption when work overruns. This programme will ensure Network Rail adopts:

• better risk management before projects begin;
• better contingency planning, with train operators, to minimise the impact of any unavoidable delay to the resumption of full services;
• stronger on-site management to ensure that any problems which do arise are identified quickly and tackled effectively; and
• better communication with train operators and rail users throughout.

Meanwhile work to improve capacity and reduce journey times on the West Coast main line by December 2008, which has resulted in more line closures over the summer and through the autumn, is making progress. ORR has been closely monitoring Network Rail’s compliance with a 25-point plan to make the December improvements a reality. Network Rail also recognises it needs to address urgently the current poor performance on the route to provide a sound foundation for the new timetables.

Network Rail monitor, as well as reflecting the record punctuality figures, also shows that the risk of a train accident on the railway is lower than ever, there has been a significant reduction in the number of asset failures, and performance on the Western route has shown a marked improvement. However, Network Rail is missing performance targets on the East Coast main line.

Bill Emery said: “We are monitoring the situation on the East Coast main line, as performance on that route has suffered recently. A new joint performance improvement plan is due to be agreed between Network Rail and National Express East Coast in September. We expect this plan to address the current shortcomings.

“In late October we will determine what Network Rail has to deliver and  the revenue it will receive for the five years beginning next April. These requirements deliver all the outputs set last year by the governments in London and Edinburgh, while staying within the public funding being made available. In June we made our draft determinations, which also included network improvement schemes estimated to cost around  £7bn. We are expecting Network Rail to become over 20% more efficient and so start to address the gap in its performance with its peers in Europe and elsewhere. Interested parties have until 4 September to respond to our consultation."

ORR’s Network Rail monitor for Q1 (1 April to 21 June) 2008 shows:

Great Britain:

Performance and delay minutes: At 90.1%, the network-wide public performance measure (PPM) was at its highest level since 1998-99. There were further reductions in Network Rail delay minutes to passenger trains compared with Q1 last year.

Safety: The risk of an accident on the network continues to fall.

Infrastructure assets: Infrastructure reliability continues to improve. Assets are failing less often and overall infrastructure delay is down. However, the rate of improvement varies considerably on different parts of the network. Although there are fewer incidents, there are signs that Network Rail’s interventions are not always as effective as they could be, causing delays to increase in some cases.

Network Rail’s expenditure: Q1 total expenditure was £119m (7.8%) lower than budget.

Scotland:

Performance and delay minutes: PPM MAA for Scotrail at the end of Q1 was 91.0%, an improvement of 1.9 % over Q1 last year. Network Rail was well ahead of both regulatory and business plan targets for Q1.

Infrastructure assets: In the first quarter of the year there was a 14% improvement upon Q1 figures in 2007-08.
Network Rail’s expenditure: Q1 total expenditure was £8m (6.6%) lower than budget.

Press enquiries

ORR Press Office – 020 7282 2188/2007

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