Passengers have had an extremely difficult time since last October

Mike Grant SRA chief executive

The SRA figures show that complaints between October 2000 and March 2001 were up 53%, compared with the same period a year earlier.

Complaint levels for the financial year 2000-01 rose a fifth compared with the previous 12 months, with some companies getting twice as many as in 1999-00.

The number of passengers left satisfied with their journey fell, according to a survey, from 76% last Spring to 69% this year.

This year only 59% were content with train punctuality and reliability, compared with 74% last year.

Silverlink, which operates between north London and the Midlands, fared worst of all for customer approval with just 55% of passengers rating the company good or satisfactory.

Going slow

The best performers were the Isle of Wight line (91%), Chiltern (89%) and Gatwick Express (87%).

Train performance was also hit badly in the six months after Hatfield, especially on long-distance routes which felt the effects of numerous speed restrictions.

Many operators fared badly, but worst hit was Virgin CrossCountry, which operates routes across the country.

The company suffered a 50% performance drop compared with the same six-month period the previous year.

Performance declines Oct 00-Mar 01 (compared with Oct 99-Mar 00)

Virgin CrossCountry 50% Virgin West Coast 40% GNER 29% Gatwick Express 24% Thameslink 23% Midland Mainline 22% West Anglia Great Northern 22%

Another factor in the delays was flooding caused in the wettest year in England and Wales since 1872.

SRA chief executive, Mike Grant, was pleased that passenger numbers had continued to grow "despite the problems".

He added that performance, while poor in some cases, "continued to make a recovery from the post-Hatfield trough".

"Passengers have had an extremely difficult time since last October, and service is still, for many of them, not good enough.

"The challenge lies ahead for the SRA and the whole industry to work closely together to restore services to acceptable levels across the entire network as soon as practicable, meanwhile keeping passengers well informed."

Signal warning

Britain's rail safety watchdog has written to 10 train companies warning them that they are not doing enough to prevent drivers passing signals at danger (Spads).

This coincides with the publication of figures showing the number of Spads last month was higher than in May 2000.

The Railway Inspectorate has told operators they face enforcement action, and potential prosecution, unless safety records are improved.

The inspectorate, part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), has also written to all Britain's train companies about their "unacceptable" approach to dealing with signals particularly prone to Spad incidents.

Firms warned

Thames Trains Great Western Anglia Arriva Trains Merseyside Cardiff Railway Great Eastern GNER Wales & West ScotRail Connex South Central

The companies have until 13 July to explain how they plan to improve.

The HSE said there were 56 Spads in May 2001 - 21 more than in May 2000 and seven more than the average figure for this month over the last six years.

Overall the figures have dropped over the past year, but this is the first time a monthly average over the last six years has been exceeded since June 1999.