Control Period 7
Network
Contributing Writer rail@bauermedia.co.uk
TRAIN performance, measured by the percentage of trains arriving on time, should marginally rise over the next five years from 66.9% in 2024-25 to 67.1% in 2028-29, according to Network Rail.
“Our plans for the next five years aim to deliver a good level of train service reliability and punctuality, and support freight growth,” the company said.
NR’s CP7 plan said it was difficult to predict factors such as weather which affect punctuality and reliability of rail services.
As a result, the Office of Rail and Road has set firm targets only for the first two years (see table) for NR in England and Wales. The rail regulator will then set targets for the remaining three years, with NR’s plan only giving a range of likely performance.
With the final performance figure for CP6 not yet confirmed, NR is forecasting 66.6%, which leaves it with a jump into the first year of CP7 greater than the entire improvement predicted for the next five years.
NR Chief Executive Andrew Haines said: “Train performance has been suffering. The industry must come together and make this, and tackling climate change, our main focus.
“Our role is to deliver a safe railway that people can rely on, whatever the weather, with trains that turn up and arrive at their destination on time, and where passengers have confidence they are in safe hands. This is what we must deliver daily and what we should, and will, be held to account for.”
Scotland uses a different measure for train performance, counting trains that arrive within five minutes of schedule, with exceptions for those delayed either by bad weather or by waiting on connections.
Transport Scotland set NR the target of reaching 92.5% in each of CP7’s years.
However, CP6’s forecasted final figure is 89.75%, and NR Scotla
