Rail passengers in North West suffer 'unacceptable levels of train performance'

But the region made efficiency savings, according to the report published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) today.

The rail regulator’s annual assessment of Network Rail found that delays to passenger trains attributed to its NW&C region – which runs from London Euston and London Marylebone to Gretna near the Scottish border – were excessive.

Delays averaged 0.34 minutes worse than expected levels with 2.05 minutes of delay per 100km of train travel.

In fact, of Network Rail’s five regions, NW&C was the worst performing in terms of delays against its passenger train performance requirements.

Network Rail’s contribution to freight performance in NW&C was also poor.

But the regulator found that Network Rail was taking performance improvements seriously, had identified the main causes of poor performance and developed remedial action plans, which included NW&C developing ‘Project Alpha’.

The review identified recommendations to build on the region’s current activities, with Network Rail providing ORR with milestones for when these improvements will be made and ORR will monitor delivery, taking action if delivery stalls.

The Office of Rail and Road holds Network Rail to account for its management of the GB rail network, monitoring how it operates the network to keep trains running on time, and how it keeps the network safe and in good condition

The annual assessment found that the NW&C region made efficiency savings of £70m over the past year through its planned renewals work. This means the region beat its efficiency target, and contributed to Network Rail delivering more than £385m of efficiency savings across all regions in the first year of CP6.

John Larkinson, Chief Executive, ORR said: “Rail passengers and freight operators in Network Rail’s NW&C region have had unacceptable train performance in 2019-20, and tackling this must be a priority.

"Our review of performance in the region has found that Network Rail has identified the issues causing the poor service and it is vital that it now addresses these through its improvement plans.

“More positively, the region exceeded its targets for planned renewals work –a good outcome for taxpayers and passengers.”