Railways improve by just 0.2%

There has been little improvement in the railways despite the record billions of pounds being pumped into the overcrowded network, statistics reveal today.

Services improved on average by only 0.2 per cent in the first three months of the current financial year compared with the same period 12 months ago.

The damning statistics from the Strategic Rail Authority will spark more embarrassment for Labour days before a fierce debate on the state of the railways at the party conference.

The figures show that 84.5per cent of trains ran on time compared with 84.3 per cent for the same period last year.

The worst timekeeping was recorded by Stagecoach, owned by South West Trains, which carries 200,000 people a day into and out of mainline Waterloo. Only three out of four SWT trains ran on time (75.4 per cent), a three per cent reduction on last year.

One of the best performers is South Eastern Trains - now under public-sector control after operator Connex was sacked for poor performance two years ago.

This will renew demands by the rail unions for the Government to keep SET, which serves the most crowded routes in the country from south-east London-and Kent, under public control.

The three main unions have joined together to force a debate at the Labour conference and are demanding that the network be brought back under public control.

The statistics show that on average the performance of all 10 operators during peak periods serving the capital has worsened. Only 81.9 per cent of trains ran on time compared with 83 per cent for the same time last year. Thameslink recorded the worst rush-hour performance, with only 71.7 per cent on time compared with 75 per cent last year.

Nicola Shaw, SRA managing director after former chief Richard Bowker was axed last month, said today: "The industry is trying. There are signs that where the effort has been greatest it is succeeding.

"But it is not yet universal or consistent."

Of the long-distance firms, the biggest improvement was shown by First Great Western, which operates from Paddington. It recorded a three-month average timekeeping figure of 83 per cent compared with

75.2 per cent last year.

Both Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Cross Country and Virgin West Coast routes also showed improvement. Cross Country increased to 80.7 per cent on time (67.8 per cent last year) and Virgin West Coast

81.5 per cent on time (77.8).