Trains arrived at fewer than two in three rail stations on time in the last year according to new statistics, not including trains that were cancelled altogether.
Data published by regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) also shows that 87% of trains met the punctuality criteria for the existing Public Performance Measure (PPM).
This treats trains as on time if they arrive at their final destination within five minutes of their scheduled time, or 10 minutes for long distance services. Trains that don't run or miss stops are an automatic fail under the PPM measure.
The new ‘On Time’ punctuality measure registers trains as being on time only when they arrive at station stops within one minute of schedule, however it does include trains that did not arrive at stations through being cancelled or skipping stops.
Under this measure, the percentage of recorded station stops arrived at ‘on time’ in Great Britain in the year ending June 2019 was 64.7%.
The ORR said the new measure will help industry provide a better service to passengers by pinpointing the issues that cause delays and assisting it to focus on the solutions with better and more useful data.
In a press release, the Department for Transport incorrectly referred to the PPM as ‘the previous industry measure’. In fact, the statistical release published by the ORR includes both measures.
Head of information and analysis Lyndsey Melbourne said: ‘We are publishing these new measures of punctuality and reliability to aid transparency of train performance and to help the industry focus on exactly where problems are arising and therefore direct their efforts on finding a solution – so passengers will benefit as solutions are found more quickly and more trains arrive on time.’
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘Commuters just want their trains to run on time and that’s my first priority. New statistics published today will stop masking whether trains are really on time.
‘I believe this is a step in the right direction, providing more accountability and transparency to help hold operators to account, but much more needs to be done to get performance to where it should be.’
The statistical release also shows that 2.8% of trains were cancelled in the last year, down just 0.1 of a percentage point from the previous year.
The ONS said more than half of all cancellations were down to train operating companies, for reasons such as a train fault; 27.8% of cancellations were down to Network Rail operations and infrastructure such as track and signalling faults and 17.1% were caused by issues such as severe weather and trespassers.
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