The Office of Rail and Road has today (18 Feb) published its passenger rail performance statistics 2020-21 Q3.
That numbers show that between October to December 2020, there were 1.7 million trains planned, 11% fewer than the same quarter last year, and of those 74.7% arrived on time.
Although performance remains high compared to the same quarter last year, this was lower than both Q1 and Q2 of this year.
The punctuality of all 23 operators improved in 2020-21 Q3 compared with a year earlier (2019-20 Q3).
London North Eastern Railway, TransPennine Express and TfW had the largest increases in on time percentages, up 36.4pp, 32.1pp and 24.4pp respectively.
The stats also showed:
- Between January and December 2020, 75.6% of recorded station stops in Great Britain (52.6 million out of 69.6 million) were arrived On Time.
- The Public Performance Measure (PPM) was the highest Q3 percentage since the time series began in 1997-98, with 91.8% of trains arriving within 5 or 10 minutes of their final destination.
- 2.4% of trains planned were cancelled. In 2020-21 Q3, operator attributed cancellations stood at 48.7% while Network Rail was attributed with responsibility for 30.2% of cancellations for infrastructure and network management issues and a further 21.2% due to external incidents such as severe weather and trespassing.
- The reliability (number of cancelled trains) of 18 operators improved in 2020-21 Q3 compared with the same quarter last year (2019-20 Q3). TransPennine Express (down 10.5 pp), West Midlands Trains (down 5.0 pp) and Northern Trains (down 4.2 pp) had the largest decreases in cancellations.
Graham Richards, Director of Planning and Performance at the Office of Rail and Road, said: “Rail passenger journeys remained around a third or less of the equivalent weekly levels in 2019 following travel restrictions in place to limit the spread of Covid-19.
“With 11% fewer trains running and fewer passengers compared to the same quarter last year, we’ve seen improvements in punctuality and reliability relative to previous years.
“When passengers do return, it is important that the rail industry maintains the good punctuality we’ve seen recently and provides clear and accurate information to help passengers plan and make journeys with confidence and ease.”
