Although more than a quarter of Virgin CrossCountry train were late that was an improvement on the year before when more than half of trains were late.

Trains operated by GNER have also improved their punctuality, according to the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA).

However, Arriva Trains Northern saw its performance fall between October and December 2003.

The SRA's punctuality figures show that Virgin CrossCountry improved its performance by more than 25%, with 71.4% of its trains running on time during the three-month period.

In the same period for 2002, 45.9% of Virgin CrossCountry ran late.

Worst performer

The company's West Coast Main Line operation also improved by more than 4%.

GNER services on the East Coast Main Line improved by almost 10% from 64% to 73.5% of trains running on time.

But Arriva Trains Northern, which operates services in the North East and North Yorkshire, saw a fall in punctuality from 75.4% to 74.9%.

Central Trains was the worst performing company in the country.

SRA chairman Richard Bowker said: "These figures represent a welcome improvement - another step in the ongoing challenge to lift performance.