17.05.16
Small recovery for PPM figures in period 1 of 2016-17
The performance and punctuality measure (PPM) of the British rail industry enjoyed a strong month in period 1 of 2016-17, with more TOCs experiencing an increase than a decrease and no TOC experiencing a decrease greater than 2.5%.
The overall national PPM figure for April 2016 was at 91.3%, compared to 91.2% in the same period last year.
The biggest PPM increases among operators was 8% for Caledonian Sleeper (from 85.2% at this point last year to 93.2%), followed by 4.1% for Transport for London Rail (from 91.2% to 95.3%) and 1.9% for First Hull (from 89.0% to 90.9%).
It was a mixed month for Virgin, with its West Coast experiencing an increase of 1.5% (from 85.8% to 87.3%) but the East Coast PPM having the biggest single decline of the month, of 2.4% (from 89.9% to 87.5%).
After Virgin East Coast, the companies with the biggest PPM decline were Abellio Greater Anglia (a 1.5% decline from 92.6% to 90.1%) and Govia Thameslink (a 1.3% decline from 85.2% to 83.9%).
In the previous period, the biggest PPM decline was 7.4% for Grand Central, followed by 4.2% for c2c, 3% for Virgin East Coast and 2.5% for Virgin West Coast.
Speaking to RTM about the improvements in PPM at Grand Central, a spokesperson said: “PPM punctuality has significantly improved this period – 91.3% – and the best result since Period 6 last year. After steadily falling for the past eight periods, MAA has slightly improved by 0.06% to 86.60%
“PPM met or exceeded target on 23 out of 30 days within the period, with 100% PPM achieved on 14 days. Out of 46 PPM failures, 15 were near misses (10-14 mins late) and 10 were due to signal regulation. A further 33 were due to Network Rail External, Infrastructure and Operations/Train Planning incidents and 5 were due to Grand Central Fleet and External causes.”
More generally, figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) released last week show that the PPM for the whole of last year was at its worst since 2006.
This month’s figures also show a small decline in cancellation and significant lateness (CaSL), from 3% at this time last year to 2.7%.
However, Virgin East Coast was again the company with the worst performance, with CaSL increasing from 2.9% to 5.4%.
The companies with the next biggest increases were TransPennine Express (from 4.6% to 6.2%), Abellio Greater Anglia (2% to 2.8%) and c2c Rail (0.6% to 1.4%).
However, the companies with the biggest percentage of delays caused by Network Rail were Virgin West Coast (73%), First Hull (71%) and Virgin East Coast (70%). The companies with the biggest percentage of delays due to their own actions were c2c Rail (59%), Chiltern (52%) and Merseyrail (46%).
(Image c. Jake Williams)
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