Continued severe winter weather during December hit train punctuality during the period, Network Rail reported today.
The latest train performance results reported that 81% of trains arrived on time compared with 80% for the same period last year.
Period 10 (12 December to 8 January) included more severe winter weather and the coldest December ever recorded in Great Britain.
Robin Gisby, director of operations and customer services, said: “During the recent tough weather, many passengers saw disruption to their journeys. Whilst most trains ran and we kept all the major routes open, passengers and freight users did not receive the high levels of service they have come to expect and rightly demand.
“We endeavoured to run as many trains as possible and sometimes put capacity ahead of punctuality. Working closely with train operators, Network Rail is looking at what we can do to further reduce the impact of extreme weather on passenger journeys and improve the flow of information to passengers.”
Nine of the 19 operators saw their performance improve compared to the same period last year. London Overground was the most punctual operator during the period with 93.5% of trains on time. 12 operators saw significant movement in their performance (over three percentage points):
| P10 2010 | P10 2009 | % point change | |
| Merseyrail | 82.9% | 92.5% | -9.6 |
| First Transpennine Express | 83.7% | 75.7% | 8.0 |
| Southeastern | 76.5% | 70.0% | 6.5 |
| Arriva Trains Wales | 84.2% | 90.4% | -6.2 |
| South West Trains | 88.2% | 82.2% | 6.0 |
| London Midland | 77.5% | 83.4% | -5.9 |
| First Great Western | 80.3% | 85.9% | -5.6 |
| c2c | 89.4% | 94.6% | -5.2 |
| London Overground | 93.5% | 88.9% | 4.6 |
| Chiltern | 85.5% | 89.4% | -3.9 |
| East Coast | 63.3% | 67.2% | -3.9 |
| East Midlands Trains | 86.6% | 89.7% | -3.1 |
