The performance of Virgin Trains was mixed

Complaints increased by 28% on the October-December 2001 figure, the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) said.

This was despite the fact that nationally the percentage of all trains arriving on time improved slightly.

Punctuality was much better on London commuter rush-hour services, in particular, than in the last part of last year.

The railway has to get better before its gets bigger SRA chairman Richard Bowker

Overall, the figures showed that train punctuality improved by about 2% - from 71% in the last three months in 2001, to 73% in the last three months of 2002.

The SRA does not provide a breakdown of customer complaints in its "National Rail Trends Report". They are detailed in a separate report published every six months, the next one of which is due in June.

But it did say that the the biggest number of complaints overall was about long-distance services, with the largest increase in complaints about the "regional sector".

This was despite the fact that regional operators' performance, on average, was roughly the same for both periods, with about 75% of trains running on time.

Arriva improvements

An SRA spokesman pointed out that complaints were particularly high around 27 October 2002, when severe gales disrupted services.

There was also some renewal work on the West Coast Main Line which led to some diversions and bus and coach replacements, and probably had a bearing on the number of complaints, he said.

TRAIN PUNCTUALITY, Q3 2002 AND Q3 2001 Overall, up 2% to 73% London and south-east commuter services up 2% to 72% Long-distance services down 10% to 60% Virgin Cross Country performed worse, with only 47.6% of trains on time

London and south east England train companies improved their performance by 5% year-on-year, with 66% of trains arriving on time in the last three months of 2002, compared to 61% for the same period 2001.

But punctuality on long-distance services worsened by 10% to only about 60%, said the SRA.

Virgin Cross Country, which runs services across Britain, was the worst performing operator, running less than half of its trains on time.

Its 47.6% of punctual trains compared to 58.3% in the same three-month period the previous year.

However its West Coast company ran 71% of trains on time in the last three months of last year, compared to 66% in October-December 2001.

The biggest improvement was on Arriva Trains Merseyside which ran about 90% of trains on time, compared with only 73% over the three month period the previous year.

WHEN IS A TRAIN ON TIME? Long-distance trains are 'on time' if they arrive within 10 minutes of timetabled arrival London, south-east and regional trains are 'on time' if they arrive within 5 minutes of timetabled arrival

SRA chairman Richard Bowker said recent reductions and alterations in services to help the timetable run better had been essential.

"This is about making the case for rail, not the case for cuts.

"The railway has to get better before its gets bigger and these timetable changes are just part of an action plan to improve performance."

Fares were 0.2% higher overall by January 2003 than they were in January 2002, said the SRA.

But standard class tickets were actually 0.1% cheaper, with most of the fare rises coming in first class.