Train journeys take longer now than 20 years ago - despite new trains and faster tracks

Despite faster trains and track improvements, passengers now have to allow five minutes more for a journey than they did in 1987.

It is thought that rail companies are tweaking their timetables to ensure that trains arrive on time and they are not fined for late arrivals.

Delays: Trains are faster but journey times longer than 20 years ago

The longest journeys are in London and the South-East, according to data compiled in the Thomas Cook European Timetables.

Reading to Paddington takes 31 minutes compared with 28 in the late 1980s. Southend to Fenchurch Street is five minutes slower lasting 54 minutes today.

There are also problems elsewhere in Britain - passengers now need to allow 62 minutes to get from Exeter to Bristol, six minutes more than 21 years ago.

Meanwhile the trip between Glasgow and Edinburgh is now two minutes longer than in 1987, lasting 50 minutes.

A commuter train is classed as 'on time' if it arrives at its destination within five minutes of schedule. Longer distance services have slightly more leeway at 10 minutes.

The current target for the industry is to ensure that 88.7 per cent of trains are running on time and recent figures show that 90.1 per cent of trains are inside this window.

Details of the longer services have emerged as passengers are preparing themselves for steep fare rises.

Most routes will see increases of one per cent above inflation which would mean a rise of 5.4 per cent.

Revelations of the longer journeys have been criticised by campaigners as "bizarre" given the fact faster trains were now in use.

A spokesman for London TravelWatch said: “Some increase in journey times may be justified by more passengers, thus longer stopping at stations. However, modern trains serving most London routes have better acceleration, which should offset this to some degree.”

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrats’ transport spokesman said: “At a time when we should be doing more to encourage more people onto the railways it is unacceptable that journey times are getting longer, especially when there is so much slack in the timetable,” he said.

Network Rail denied altering targets to ensure bonuses were paid.

A spokesman said: “Compared to 20 years ago more trains are being run. When the industry was privatised in 1996, there were 17,000 services being run every day, now it is 22,000."