Midland Mainline had a 69% punctuality record in a recent survey

But their commercial director, Malcolm Brown, said that depended on Network Rail providing a better service.

Network Rail has taken over the job of running signalling, track and stations from Railtrack.

And it has recently been criticised by the rail regulator for letting its spending run almost out of control.

'Totally unacceptable'

Latest figures from the Strategic Rail Authority pointed to Midland Mainline being one of the worst-performing inter-city train companies in the UK.

It had a punctuality rate of 69.1%, better only than Virgin CrossCountry.

But managers at Midland Mainline said was frustrating when the company's reputation suffers because of something over which they have little control.

Mr Brown said: "We have had very poor performance from Network Rail.

"Part of that is infrastructure, part of that is a change in their management techniques.

"We are working with them to try and get them improved but it has been totally unacceptable."