03.05.16
Virgin set 59 second punctuality target
Virgin has become the first TOC to publish up-to-date punctuality data on its services, where a train is only classed as being on time if it arrives within 59 seconds of its scheduled arrival.
The new punctuality chart, which use the ‘Right Time’ measure, shows that in March Virgin West Coast trains were likely to be early 47% of the time, on time 56% of the time, and delayed by over 10 minutes only 13% of the time.
On the East Coast line, trains were early 50% of the time, on time 58% of the time, and more than 10 minutes late 10% of the time. Almost three quarters of all Virgin Trains services arrived within 4 minutes of their planned arrival time.
Graham Leech, group commercial director at Virgin Trains, said: “We always want to be on the side of passengers. That’s why we’re sharing as much information as possible with them around the punctuality of our services.
“We never want passengers to suffer delays or disruption but things do go wrong sometimes and we want to make sure people have the best information possible to plan their journey. We’re proud of our record of customer service at Virgin Trains and are always looking for new ways to innovate for the benefit of customers. So we’re delighted to be the first train company to provide punctuality data in this way.”
Virgin East Coast and West Coast were the TOCs with the third and fourth biggest PPM decline, after Grand Central, in the last period.
Virgin East Coast’s PPM decreased from 90% to 87% and Virgin West Coast’s went from 86.1% to 83.3%.
PPM measures delays as being within 10 minutes of the set arrival time, instead of the stricter 59 second measure Virgin has set.
Claire Perry, minister for rail, hailed the decision, saying: “We want to build a 21st century railway that provides better journeys for all, and improved information for customers is a vital part of that.”
Virgin also recently announced that they are paying passengers compensation for delays in money instead of vouchers.
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(Image c. David Parry from PA Wire)