Record number of trains ran on time

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A total of 90.6% of trains ran on time in the 12 months ending in March, while the figure for April was a monthly record of 93.5%.

NR's operations and customer service director Robin Gisby said: "Passengers are today experiencing the most punctual train service ever provided on Britain's railways."

Train punctuality dipped sharply at the beginning of this decade after speed restrictions were brought in following the October 2000 Hatfield rail crash.

When NR took over responsibility for rail infrastructure from Railtrack in 2002, punctuality was less than 79%.

Best-performing company in 2008/09 was the London to Tilbury and Southend operator c2c, which achieved a trains-on-time figure of 95.3%. Chiltern and Merseyrail also reached the 95% mark.

Two companies - Virgin Trains and London Midland - did significantly worse in 2008/09 than in 2007/08 due to the disruption caused by the £9 billion upgrade of the West Coast Main Line, which was completed last December.

Virgin's punctuality figure slipped from 86.2% in 2007/08 to 80.0% in 2008/09, while London Midland declined from 88.9% to 86.5%. The biggest year-on-year improvement was made by First Great Western, whose punctuality rose from 83.1% in 2007/08 to 90.5% in 2008/09.

Mr Gisby praised the hard work of NR staff and train companies in the punctuality improvement. He said: "But we are far from complacent and realise that passengers still experience some delays, albeit less often than in times past.

"Our focus in the years ahead will be to drive performance to even higher levels with particular attention given to reducing the number of very late services."