Thursday’s ORR delay and cancellation figures also showed that of the eight least reliable train companies, four were publicly owned – and that state-owned Network Rail was responsible for 60 per cent of delay minutes racked up across the nation’s 9,800 miles of tracks.
“Looking at total cancellations, four of the eight least reliable train companies were publicly operated, and the infrastructure manager, Network Rail — publicly owned since 2002 — was responsible for over 60 per cent of delay minutes,” said Andy Bagnall, chief executive of the privately-owned train companies’ trade association, Rail Partners.
“By comparison, the data shows the five most punctual operators over the same time period were all privately operated,” he added.
Joint plan to improve infrastructure reliability
A Network Rail spokesman said: “It is right that the rail industry is held to account following unacceptable train performance on the West Coast main line (WCML).
“While WCML train performance is starting to improve, we are working hard with our partners at Avanti West Coast to drive up the reliability and punctuality of services.
“We have a joint plan that’s focussed on improving infrastructure reliability and incident recovery times to help keep important passenger and freight services moving safely and efficiently at all times.”
Labour has vowed to nationalise the passenger train companies, unwinding John Major’s re-privatisation of the railways in the 1990s.
Britain’s railways were operated by private companies from their inception in the 19th century until 1948, when Clement Attlee’s Labour government embarked on a nationalisation spree that resulted in the creation of British Railways.