More detailed rail data to be made public with new measures

Date: 10/7/2012

Parliamentary under-secretary of state for transport, Norman Baker, announced measures this morning which will see much more detailed information released with regard to train punctuality.

The measures will enable passengers to find out whether train services run on time to within one minute, while also making more detailed punctuality information available for the first time.

Previously, Public Performance Measure (PPM) data was available to show just how many trains actually arrive within five or ten minutes of their scheduled time.

However, from today, with the ushering in of these new measures, new statistics will go even further.

The new data, published by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), will allow passengers to see the percentage of trains that arrived early and within one minute of being on time.

Announcing the new changes, Mr Baker said that he felt it was essential for customers to be able to know just how punctual their trains were and to a very specific level.

"I want passengers to be given clear and simple information on the punctuality of their train services," he said.

"The Coalition Government wants rail travel to be more transparent and that’s why we have worked closely together with the rail industry to ensure these statistics will be published."

Currently, the figures show that 69.8 per cent of trains on the network are arriving within 59 seconds of their scheduled times, while 91.6 per cent are meeting the PPM target.

"This compares very favourably with elsewhere in Europe and across other modes," he said.

"I will be urging all train operators to go that extra mile and push these figures up even higher."

Transport minister, Theresa Villiers, echoed the view that extra information was necessary for passengers.

"Providing more information on the punctuality of services is part of our wider commitment to increasing transparency across government," she said.

"Today’s publication is just one of a number of initiatives to give rail users more information about our railways."

Posted by Nick Anderson