NETWORK RAIL

Train punctuality has worsened over the past year, according to the Office of Rail Regulation, with nearly one train in five on the country's worst hit service running late. It has threatened to fine Network Rail, which runs the country’s track infrastructure for poor performance. According to the regulator, Network Rail is “adrift” of punctuality targets and providing passengers with a service well short of what they were entitled to expect. Long distance trains are classed as running late if they arrive 10 minutes behind schedule, commuter services are given five minutes leeway.

On long distance routes, such as from London to Scotland and South Wales, Network Rail is now 3-4 % short of the target set by the Government in 2009. For the 12 months ending July 23, 87.5% of trains ran on time, compared with 89% over the same period a year ago. However these figures mask an especially poor performance on First Great Western, which runs services to the West Country and Wales, where nearly 17% of trains were late. This time last year under nine per cent of services failed to arrive within 10 minutes of schedule.

Commuter services in London and the South East performed worse with 91.1% of trains arriving on time, compared with 91.4% last year. However under the targets set by the Government and regulator, punctuality was expected to improve over the past year rather than deteriorate. It is this that has left Network Rail facing the threat of a fine as its performance was described as “unacceptable” by the regulator. Richard Price, the ORR’S chief executive, said, “They need to demonstrate that the industry’s leadership can really deliver for its customers. It is urgent that they do, and I expect to see robust and realistic plans in the coming weeks which are being acted upon and making a difference."

Network Rail’s deteriorating performance has been due in part to the severe winter at the turn of the year and the increasing problems of cable theft. Robin Gisby, managing director of network operations, Network Rail, defended the company’s performance. He said, "Network Rail is focused on continuing to drive up performance and safety across Britain's railway."

He added, "Over the last few years the industry has driven up performance levels to amongst the best in Europe with over 90% of trains arriving on time. Yet, we acknowledge that in some parts of the country performance does not meet the standards that passengers and our customers now rightly demand. Working with our industry partners, we are committed to making further improvements." (Source: Daily Telegraph, Sep/11)

Roadside signs urging motorists to let the train take the strain are being considered by the Government. The digital signs will provide motorists with comparison journey times to town centres by rail and car. They will also advise on alternative routes off the motorway which could prove quicker. Work on the signs started under the Labour Government, when it was seen as a way of promoting the low carbon economy. The initiative is seen as giving motorists better information, but leaving them to take final decision.

A spokesman for Network Rail said, "More and people are recognising that instead of being stuck in a traffic jam you can work productively or just relax and let the train take the strain. Network Rail welcomes this initiative to convince people to take the rail alternative." Which actually translates as, "More and more people are realising that instead of being stuck in a traffic jam, they can pay through the nose for the privilege of standing on a platform waiting for a delayed train to arrive, and when it does, face an extended journey standing up with their face in someone's armpit".

Network Rail failed to meet agreed punctuality targets last year. The Office of Rail Regulation warned of an upward trend in delays and criticised the track infrastructure company over safety. According to Bill Emery, the ORR’S outgoing chief executive, said the company faced major challenges to meet future performance targets. He said, "Network Rail missed the majority of its operational performance objectives for areas like punctuality, and it quickly needs to take steps to improve its safety culture." (Source: Daily Telegraph, Jun/11)

Network Rail has announced that £18m will be spent on refurbishing Derby's railway station. The project will include rebuilding all the platform canopies and lifts are to be installed to take people from the footbridge to platforms two, three, four and six. Work to dismantle and rebuild the platform canopies will take place in four phases between February 2008 and June 2009. The station will remain open although certain platforms will have to close at various stages of the project.

Dyan Crowther, Network Rail route director, said, "Certain platforms will have to be closed at different points throughout the project and there will be some changes to timetabled train services, particularly at weekends." East Midlands Trains managing director Tim Shoveller said, "We're proud to manage the station at Derby, a city with a great railway history, and we hope that this upgrade will provide a station fitting with this." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Nov/07)

Network Rail has asked for a grant of £7bn to ease overcrowding on services across the country. It says it needs the extra money to cope with an expected 30% increase in passengers and freight over the next decade, on top of more than £4bn a year that it already gets to run the current network. It wants to spend the extra money on extending platforms to take longer trains, and on new sections of line on the busiest stretches of mainline and commuter routes into London and other cities.

Critics claim rail infrastructure costs have been too high ever since they soared after privatisation a decade ago, even though Network Rail has cut the annual operating bill by £1bn-£1.5bn since it took over from Railtrack in 2002. Stephen Joseph, executive director of campaign group Transport 2000, said, "They are getting shedloads of money, and if you look at how much it costs to do things here compared with other countries, it's quite high and they are going to have to justify that." (Source: Observer, Jul/06)

Network Rail's four directors are to receive bonuses totalling almost £900,000 despite one in six trains continuing to run late. John Armitt, the chief executive, will receive a bonus of £270,000, taking his total earnings for the year to £755,000. Iain Coucher, his deputy, will get £240,000 on top of his salary of £433,000. Two other executive directors will receive bonuses of £180,000 each. The rail infrastructure company more than doubled the bonuses that the four men received the previous year after saying that they had exceeded all their targets for punctuality, financial performance and the condition of the network.

But Network Rail had admitted that its punctuality target was too weak. Punctuality has improved slightly in the past 12 months to 83.8% of trains on time, but Railtrack achieved 90% in 1998. Under Network Rail’s improvement programme, 90% punctuality will not be restored until 2009. Network Rail’s remuneration committee, which sets the bonuses, chose to ignore a request from the rail regulator to take into account the company’s failure to give sufficient warning of engineering works.

Millions of passengers have had to buy more expensive tickets because Network Rail’s delay in issuing emergency timetables has prevented train companies from selling discounted fares in advance. The regulator wrote to the committee pointing out that the company was “seriously in breach” of its operating licence and that this must be taken into account when deciding on the level of bonus. But the committee decided to award bonuses worth 55.6% of the directors’ salaries, just below the maximum permitted of 60%. In 2004 they received 24%.

Ian McAllister, Network Rail’s chairman, said that the bonuses were modest compared with those awarded by other large companies. “In the past year train delays have been reduced by 17%, significant efficiency savings have been made and the condition of the railway assets has improved markedly,” he said. “I would rather have the problem of people telling me the bonuses are too high than to have missed the targets.” He said that Network Rail had also improved safety, with broken rails, signals passed at danger and train accidents all at their lowest level.

The company measures its punctuality performance by the number of minutes of delay it causes to trains. The total fell by 2.3 million minutes in 2004 but was still at 11.4 million minutes, well above Railtrack’s record of 9.1 million. Railtrack predicted in 2002 that it would cut delays to eight million minutes a year by 2006. Even after setting a tougher target, Network Rail is aiming only to reduce delays to 10.6 million minutes in the 12 months. While the directors and senior managers will receive bonuses based on a percentage of their salaries, the remaining 27,300 staff will receive a fixed sum of £1,112.