Performance monitoring report on

NATIONAL RAIL PASSENGER SERVICES IN THE AREA

Quarter 1 2002-03 (April to June 2002)

Prepared by

LTUC Research and Policy Team 6 Middle Street London EC1A 7JA

October 2002

CONTENTS

Section 1 Public performance measure (PPM) Section 2 Lost minutes Section 3 National passenger survey (NPS) (not reported this quarter) Section 4 Passengers in excess of capacity (PIXC) (not reported this quarter) Section 5 Passenger complaints (not reported this quarter) Section 6 Impartial retailing survey (not reported this quarter) Section 7 Glossary and definitions

Annex A PPM results for Quarter 1 2001-02 (table) Annex B PPM results for Quarter 1 2001-02 (chart) Annex C 3-year PPM trends – all trains (chart) Annex D 3-year PPM trends – London and south east peak trains (chart) Annex E Lost minutes – Quarter 1 2002-03 (table) Annex F NPS results (not reported this quarter) Annex G Narrative commentaries supplied by the following operators : , Chiltern, , , , , , , West Anglia Great Northern, Anglia, First Great Western, Great North Eastern, and Virgin West Coast.

OVERVIEW OF QUARTER

• Reliability of most London and south east operators has continued to improve but was still below the levels reached prior to the aftermath of the Hatfield derailment.

• Wide variations between operators continued, ranging from 9% of trains delayed or cancelled to 24%.

• Nearly all operators performed relatively well in weekday peaks, with only a slight decrease on c2c, First Great Eastern and Silverlink.

• Longer-distance operators’ performance was 1.5% better than in the previous year and 2% better than in the preceding quarter.

• Number of trains planned on both London and east and longer-distance routes was less than a year ago, and in the preceding period.

• Delays to London and south east services were roughly equally attributable to train companies and Railtrack.

• Railtrack was responsible for most delays to longer distance services, as it was in the same period a year ago. 1. PUBLIC PERFORMANCE MEASURE (PPM)

Results for this quarter are tabulated in Annex A. All-trains performance, by , is shown graphically in Annex B. Each operator's three-year performance, compared with the mean for its group, appears graphically in Annex C. The same information, limited to weekday with-flow peak period trains on the London and south east system (excluding Gatwick Express) appears graphically in Annex D. Some percentages may not sum exactly, because of the effects of rounding.

London and south east

1.1 Annexes A and B present to an encouraging picture, with the cancellation and lateness rates for virtually all London and south east operators falling. But in order to eliminate seasonal effects which are cyclical in nature, the comparisons shown in this table and chart are with the equivalent quarter a year earlier. Results for the first quarter of 2001-02 were affected by the widespread introduction of temporary speed restrictions following the Hatfield derailment in Autumn 2000, which had led to the worst period of train performance in half a century (excluding strike effects). The slight improvement in the performance of the train operating companies was a small positive step towards regaining an acceptable level of performance throughout the . The charts in Annex C show that for this group of operators taken together, there was only a modest recovery, and performance generally remained below the levels achieved in the equivalent quarter two years earlier. Nevertheless, the recovery from the nadir reached post-Hatfield has been sustained.

1.2 The total number of trains scheduled was 0.7% less than a year earlier. At the level of individual train companies, these totals can show surprisingly large short-term variations, as they are affected not only by the planned timetable changes but also by (e.g.) industrial action and engineering ‘possessions’, i.e. periods when the regular timetable is suspended in order to allow work to be carried out on the track and/or signals. An example of longer term change is provided by Gatwick Express, which has reduced the frequency of its night- time schedules because of the lower number of flights now serving the airport. The reduction in the volume of its service is 17.2%, when compared with quarter 1 2001/02.

1.3 Of the trains planned, 1.2% were cancelled – a drop of 0.1% both since the previous quarter and since the same period in 2001-02. Every operator cancelled fewer trains than a year ago, except Silverlink (where the rate was 0.7% up). The fewest cancellations were on First Great Eastern, with a rate of 0.4%. At 2.4%, the cancellation rate was highest on Gatwick Express, as it was case a year ago. But Gatwick Express achieved ‘best in class’ status as the operator whose cancellation rate showed the greatest reduction. It should also be noted that Gatwick Express classes any delay of more than 10 minutes as a cancellation, because of the (relatively) high frequency of its services.

1.4 On this group of services, lateness is defined as trains reaching their advertised termini five or more minutes late. Taken as a group, 15.6% of the trains were late, a fall of 1.4% over the year and of 1.8% over the quarter. Two of the eleven operators showed a year-on-year increase, the highest being that of Connex South Eastern at 1.4%. At the opposite pole, First Great Eastern achieved a 7.9% reduction.

1.5 The net outcome of these changes was that South West Trains continued to have the worst overall punctuality performance, with 23.7% of its trains arriving late. First Great Eastern continued for a second consecutive period to have the best performance, with 8.8% arriving late. It is sometimes suggested that it is difficult for long-distance operators to achieve the same levels of punctuality as those whose trains make shorter journeys – which is why the permitted margin of deviation from advertised time before a train is deemed to be late is greater for the longer distance train companies (10 minutes) than for those running primarily in London and the south east (5 minutes). But this does not adequately account for the variations within each category. It is true that South West Trains has some services running as far afield as Paignton, which is further from London than any point served by Anglia, deemed to be a longer distance operator. But most of South West Trains’ services originate or terminate much closer to London than this, whilst Chiltern (with a much higher punctuality performance) now runs trains as far away as Kenilworth. The is currently conducting a review of Railtrack’s “rules of the plan”, which underpin the timing allowances on which timetables are based, in order to ensure that appropriate account is taken of such changes in the operating environment as new rolling stock, boarding/alighting times required for increased passenger loadings, and “defensive driving” techniques introduced to mitigate the risk of signals passed at danger. The exercise is intended in due course to deliver more robust timetables which should, inter alia, offer better protection against the repercussive impact of individual minor delays.

1.6 The public performance measure (PPM) combines cancellations and lateness in a single performance yardstick. For the London and south east group as a whole, the PPM in this quarter was 1.5 % better than a year ago (and 2% better than in the immediately preceding quarter). Of this year-on-year improvement, 0.1% was due to reduced cancellations and 1.4% to reduced lateness.

1.7 Compared with 2001-02, the only operators not to show a net improvement were Connex South Eastern (down 1.5%) and South West Trains (down 1.1% - contrary to the claim made by this operator in Annex G), while the greatest increase was that of First Great Eastern (up 8.2%). The best overall PPM for the second period running was that of First Great Eastern (at 90.8%) and the worst was that of again of South West Trains (at 75.2%).

1.8 is a wholly commercial service, operated by BAA Rail, and is not subject to the SRA’s franchising requirements (including the disclosure of performance information). The company has, however, voluntarily agreed to supply train performance data to LTUC on the same basis as that which is used for calculating the SRA’s PPM. Its results appear in Annex A but are not aggregated with those for other London and south east operators because this is the first period for which comparative results for the previous year are available. In future reports in this series, its results will be aggregated with those of the other TOCs for comparison of performance at network level.

1.9 Taking the quarter under review, the performance of Heathrow Express was bettered only by First Great Eastern with respect to cancellations, and it exceeded that of any other London and south east operator with respect to punctuality. Relative to the same period a year ago, the number of trains cancelled increased by 0.2% but the proportion of trains running late decreased by 2.2%, giving a positive change in PPM of 2.0%. This results in the overall PPM being higher than any other TOC in the London and south east group.

1.10 The graphs in Annex C show the PPM for each London and south east operator (in black) relative to the mean for all operators in the group (in white). They also show, by means of finer lines, the three-year trends for the operator and the group. The seasonality of fluctuations in performance is clearly evident, with a downturn occurring in the third (autumn) quarter of each reporting year. The impact of the post-Hatfield speed restrictions, in quarter 3 of 2000-01, is dramatic, but the general trend in performance was downward even before this happened.

1.11 The operators can be divided into three principal categories :

(a) Operators whose performance has improved over time, relative to the group (and is now generally - but not invariably - above average) : c2c, Chiltern, Connex South Eastern, First Great Eastern, Gatwick Express and Silverlink.

[Chiltern has been awarded a franchise renewal.]

(b) Operators whose performance has deteriorated over time, relative to the group (and is now generally - but not invariably - below average) : South West Trains, Thameslink and West Anglia Great Northern.

[South West Trains has been offered a franchise renewal.]

(c) Operators whose performance trend has broadly matched that of the London and south east group as a whole (though it may be either above or below the average level of achievement) : South Central and .

[The South Central franchise was surrendered by Connex on 26 August 2001, and is now held by , which has been offered a franchise renewal.]

1.12 The graphs in Annex D show the PPM for the London and south east group limited to weekday with-flow peak period trains, which carry the largest share of their users (excluding Gatwick Express which is not primarily a commuter railway). The general pattern is broadly similar to the all-trains data, though fluctuations tend to be greater. By this measure c2c, Chiltern, First Great Eastern, South West Trains, Thames Trains and Thameslink have performed somewhat better than on an all-trains basis, while Silverlink and West Anglia Great Northern have performed somewhat worse.

Longer distance

1.13 The table in Annex A and the graphs in Annexes B and C contain similar information for the five principal longer distance train operators serving London. These routes are less prone to cyclical seasonal variations in performance, and the impact of the post-Hatfield speed restrictions (and “possessions” – i.e. periods when the railway has been out of use for track repair work) was greater. Their rate of recovery in the first half of 2001 was notably slower than that of the London and south east operators, but in the second half they did not suffer the same subsequent reversal of progress.

1.14 The total number of longer distance trains planned was no less than 3.3% greater than a year earlier, reflecting the intensification of the timetables on the Anglia, Great North Eastern and Midland routes.

1.15 The overall cancellation rate was 0.9%, 0.3% better than a year earlier and a 0.6% improvement since the preceding quarter. Results for individual operators ranged from 0.5% in the case of Midland Mainline to 1.2% in the case of Great North Eastern (which was alone in recording a higher cancellation rate than a year ago). The greatest improvement was achieved by Midland Mainline, with a reduction of 0.8%.

1.16 For longer distance routes, lateness is measured by trains reaching termini more than ten minutes late, rather than five. But despite this more relaxed yardstick, these operators are traditionally less punctual than their London and south east counterparts, a discrepancy perpetuated in the quarter under review. No less than 20.9% of their trains arrived late, though this was10.3% better than a year ago and 1% better than in the preceding quarter. Even the best performing operator, Midland Mainline, saw 16.1% of its trains arrive late while Great North Eastern’s result was 27.0% (i.e. its passengers suffered delays of ten minutes or more on more than a quarter of all journeys). The greatest year-on-year improvement was that of Virgin West Coast (down by 19.6%), while the lowest reduction was that of Great North Eastern (down by 3.6%).

1.17 Combining cancellations and lateness produced an overall PPM of 78.2% for the longer distance group this quarter, 10.6% better than a year ago and a 2.2% improvement on the preceding quarter. Of this improvement, 10.3% was due to reduced lateness and 0.3% to fewer cancellations. The best relative result, compared with 2001-02, was Virgin West Coast (up 20.0%) and the worst was Great North Eastern (up 3.5%). The best outturn result was that of Midland Mainline (83.4%) and the worst that of Great North Eastern (71.8%).

1.18 The graphs in Annex C show the dramatic impact of the speed restrictions imposed after the Hatfield accident in Quarter 3 of 2000-01, and the sharply negative three-year trend which this exacerbated. All the operators have generally increased the level of their performance over the past year except Great North Eastern whose recovery appears to have stalled.

1.19 The relative performance of Anglia Intercity, First Great Western and Midland Mainline has generally improved over the period shown (i.e. their decline has been less steep than that for the longer distance operators as a whole). Great North Eastern’s results have deteriorated, while Virgin West Coast (traditionally the worst performer in this category) has now climbed up to the average for the group.

[Great North Eastern and Midland Mainline have been awarded franchise extensions.]

2. LOST MINUTES

On the network, “lost minutes” are used as the aggregate measure of train delays. Each such minute is attributed to its cause, and such causes in turn are attributed to the train operators and the infrastructure operator (Railtrack). They form the basis for the compensation payments which pass between the operators. The total number of minutes lost by each operator depends not only on its performance but also on the scale of its activity, so for the purposes of this report the totals are expressed as percentages to facilitate comparisons. This information has only been released since Quarter 1 of 2001-02, so year-on-year comparisons are not yet available. From the Quarter 2 2002/03 comparisons between the operators will be available.

2.1 The table at Annex E shows the proportion of minutes lost during the quarter under review, by operator, attributed according to the causes used within the rail industry.

2.2 For the London and south east operators, 46.7% were attributed to the train companies, the largest component being rolling stock defects (18.3%). Of this 46.7%, 34.9% were “TOC-on-self” delays (i.e. caused by the same train operator) and 11.9% were “TOC-on-TOC” delays (i.e. caused by another train operator, including freight companies). Of the 53.3% attributed to Railtrack, the largest component was problems with the track and structures (19.2%). It should be noted that the Railtrack component includes some factors due to third parties (such as vandalism) or “acts of God” (such as severe flooding).

2.3 There are notable variations between the operators in the relative impact of the various causes of delay. For example, causes of delay due to the train crew accounted for more than 17.6% of delays on c2c compared to 2.4% on First Great Eastern. In the recent past such discrepancies could be attributed to industrial action, but during this period none occurred.

2.4 TOC-on-self delays accounted for the largest proportion of delays on c2c (61.0%), a route that has been little affected by post-Hatfield infrastructure problems and which carries few other operators’ trains. TOC-on-self delays were least on Gatwick Express (9.9%), which shares the whole of its route with other operators and are therefore particularly exposed to the effects of other TOCs’ failures.

2.5 TOC-on-TOC delays, for the same reasons, were least on c2c (1.4%) and greatest on Gatwick Express (38.6%). Railtrack delays were least on c2c (37.6%) and greatest on First Great Eastern (67.2%) – largely, in the latter case, because of signalling problems and speed restrictions, plus a very large (24.1%) slice of unattributed “other factors”.

2.6 As in the preceding quarter, the major longer distance operators serving London were more heavily affected by Railtrack delays (65.7%) and less affected by TOC-on-self delays (22.7%) – i.e. they were, to a greater extent, the victims of another party. Again, rolling stock defects were the largest cause of TOC-related delays (19.4%) and track and structures were the largest cause of Railtrack delays (36.3%), the latter figure being a 3.7% increase on the same period in the previous year.

2.7 First Great Western was worst affected by TOC-on-TOC delays (15.8%), while Midland Mainline was worst affected by TOC-on-self delays (as it runs solo – or on separate tracks - over much of its length) (26.5%). Great North Eastern was worst affected by Railtrack delays (71.8%).

3. NATIONAL PASSENGER SURVEY (NPS)

The National Passenger Survey is conducted twice yearly, in the autumn and spring. The spring 2002 results were recorded in the previous report in this series.

4. PASSENGERS IN EXCESS OF CAPACITY (PIXC)

A survey of peak train loadings on the London and south east commuter network is conducted annually on behalf of the Strategic Rail Authority, normally in the autumn. The results for 2001 were recorded in the previous report in this series.

5. PASSENGER COMPLAINTS

The Strategic Rail Authority issues data relating to the number of complaints received by the various train operators, at twice-yearly intervals. Results for the period October 200-March 2002 were given in the previous report in this series, and those for the next six months will be published when available.

6. IMPARTIAL RETAILING SURVEY

A survey of train companies’ compliance with the impartial retailing requirements contained in their operating licences is conducted annually by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). No results were reported during the period under review. 7. GLOSSARY AND DEFINITIONS

Data sources and coverage

7.1 Unless otherwise stated, all base data used in this report have been supplied by the Strategic Rail Authority to the Rail Passengers Council, but may have been subject to further analysis by LTUC. Despite careful checking, the possibility of error exists, and any prima facie evidence of this will be gratefully received.

7.2 This report is concerned solely with performance outputs and is limited to operators on the national rail network with a significant presence in London. More comprehensive information on the performance of the national rail network as a whole, including demand trends and financial data is available in periodic SRA publications, notably On Track and National Rail Trends.

7.3 All of the operators covered in this report (except Gatwick Express and Heathrow Express) provide some services outside the LTUC area. Unless otherwise stated (notably in the case of Anglia’s Intercity route), the data relate to the whole of each company’s operations and are not limited to services within or to/from London, although in each case such services do represent the majority of its network. Separate data for services wholly or primarily within the LTUC area, or within , are not published – and the nature of the service pattern provided is such that such a distinction would carry little meaning.

7.4 A number of other national rail operators also have a presence in London. and are unfranchised operators, whose performance results are not published. , ScotRail, Virgin Cross Country and Wales & Borders all operate some services to and from the LTUC area. But these account for a very small proportion of these companies’ networks, and for a very small proportion of the total volume of services covered by LTUC, so their inclusion in this report would be potentially misleading.

Glossary

7.5 ATOC Association of Train Operating Companies LTUC London Transport Users Committee NPS National passenger survey PIXC Passengers in excess of capacity PPM Public performance measure RPC Rail Passengers Council SRA Strategic Rail Authority TOC Train operating company

Definitions

7.6 Public performance measure

The PPM measures the performance of individual trains against there planned timetable, and shows the percentage that are neither cancelled nor late. A train is regarded as cancelled if it does not run or fails to complete half its planned journey. A “partial cancellation” occurs if it fails to observe all advertised stops. A train is late if it arrives at its advertised destination five or more minutes late (in the case of London and south east operators) or ten or more minutes late (in the case of longer distance operators). The timetable against which performance is judged is the “plan of the day”, including any alterations made to the published timetable to take account of (e.g.) engineering works or major incidents.

7.7 Lost minutes

This is the measure used within the rail industry to attribute responsibility for delays and disruptions (but not cancellations). All advertised passenger trains are included. Delays attributed to train operators (TOCs) are categorised as either “TOC-on-self” delays, i.e. caused by the same company’s trains, or “TOC-on-TOC” delays, i.e. caused by another company’s trains (including those of freight operators). Delays attributed to Railtrack include all those not caused by TOCs (or directly by their passengers), and therefore include some caused by third parties (e.g. trespassers and vandals) or “acts of God” (such as extreme weather conditions).

In this report, causes are grouped into fourteen principal categories. These are amalgamated from nearly 300 individual sub-categories used for recording purposes, details of which are available on request. “Neutral zone” entries relate to delays occurring at the train/infrastructure interface (typically because of poor wheel/rail adhesion) which are divided equally between Railtrack and the TOCs because they cannot sensibly be attributed uniquely to either.

Lost minutes data are provided by the SRA to assist the RPC network in its work, but are not otherwise generally released. They should be treated only as a general guide to the relative significance of different contributory factors, and may be subject to adjustment following negotiation between the industry partners to which they relate.

7.8 National passenger survey

The NPS is conducted twice a year at around 700 stations across the network, at different times of the day and days of the week. The stations are selected to reflect the overall pattern and profile of demand, and the number of passengers surveyed is weighted to reflect the size of different companies’ operations. Self-completion questionnaires are used, and passengers are asked to rate 15 service attributes on a five-point scale (from very satisfied to very dissatisfied). Twelve attributes are reported on a TOC-specific basis and are shown in this series of reports. The results are given as the “net satisfaction rate”, i.e. the excess of those voicing satisfaction over those voicing dissatisfaction (irrespective of degree), expressed as a percentage.

7.9 Passengers in excess of capacity

A census is conducted annually, normally in the autumn, of loading levels on all London and south east operators’ trains running into London between 0700 and 0959 and out of London between 1600 and 1859. Loadings are measured at the point of maximum loading, which is normally on the approaches to the London terminus.

Each train has a planned capacity; based on the number of carriages and the number of standard class seats they contain. The formula takes relevant floorspace into account (e.g. vestibules), and allows 0.55 square metres per standee, in addition to seating capacity. As a general rule, sliding door trains have a capacity of around 135% of the number of seats, and slam door trains a capacity of around 110%. But as the SRA expects operators to provide sufficient capacity to prevent any passengers from having to stand involuntarily for more than 20 minutes, the planned capacity is in practice deemed to be equal to the seating capacity on trains which are due to run non-stop for 20 minutes or more at the census point. Trains are assumed to be running at their booked strength (i.e. planned length), irrespective of whether they are actually doing so at the time of the census, as PIXC is measured relative to planned capacity. Other contractual incentives exist to discourage unplanned reductions in capacity (i.e. “short formations”).

PIXC is expressed as the percentage of all with-flow peak period passengers who are standing in excess of the planned capacity of the trains on which they are travelling. Unoccupied seats and standing places on other trains are disregarded, so there is no netting-off of heavily loaded trains against others. But the statistic relates to the entire peak and to all trains. Individual trains and routes may be much more or much less heavily loaded.

Train operators are required to produce plans showing all reasonable steps they intend to take to reduce PIXC when it exceeds 4.5% in either peak or 3.0% in both peaks taken together.

7.10 Impartial retailing survey

This survey is conducted annually on behalf of ATOC, to check its members’ compliance with the relevant licence condition.

Licensed station operators are required, at their ticket offices, to offer passengers the cheapest available fare appropriate to the journey they intend to make, and not to discriminate in favour of or against the services and fares of any particular company.

The survey takes the form of a “mystery shopper” exercise. A range of typical purchaser questions in different scenarios is generated, based on the most recent ticket sales data to ensure their plausibility. There are nine scenarios involving variations of five factors : ticket type, length of journey stay, day of travel, point of origin, and use of railcards. A total of 11,000 “mystery shops” are then carried out at a stratified sample of stations across all of the train companies which operate ticket offices, chosen to ensure a reasonable spread of station sizes.

For each operator, and the entire industry, a “pass rate” is calculated showing the proportion of all purchases, which were successful, i.e. in which the correct ticket was sold.

NATIONAL RAIL : TRAIN OPERATORS PERFORMANCE : QUARTER 1 (April - June 2002)

Planned Cancelled Late PPM % Cancelled % Late % PPM Last year This year Last year This year Last year This year Last year This year Last yr % This yr % % change Last yr % This yr % % change Last yr % This yr % % change

LONDON & SOUTH EAST c2c [25153] 25102 [664] 633 [3181] 2348 [21308] 22121 [2.6%] 2.5% -0.1% [12.6%] 9.4% -3.3% [84.7%] 88.1% 3.4% Chiltern [20399] 21227 [111] 117 [2714] 2074 [17574] 19036 [0.5%] 0.6% 0.0% [13.3%] 9.8% -3.5% [86.2%] 89.7% 3.5% Connex South Eastern [127923] 126097 [1331] 1477 [16158] 17643 [110434] 106977 [1.0%] 1.2% 0.1% [12.6%] 14.0% 1.4% [86.3%] 84.8% -1.5% First Great Eastern [58978] 58722 [405] 263 [9842] 5145 [48731] 53314 [0.7%] 0.4% -0.2% [16.7%] 8.8% -7.9% [82.6%] 90.8% 8.2% Gatwick Express [13599] 11259 [585] 269 [1635] 1191 [11379] 9799 [4.3%] 2.4% -1.9% [12.0%] 10.6% -1.4% [83.7%] 87.0% 3.4% Silverlink [45820] 47414 [605] 945 [7005] 5649 [38210] 40820 [1.3%] 2.0% 0.7% [15.3%] 11.9% -3.4% [83.4%] 86.1% 2.7% South Central [132460] 131138 [1498] 927 [21256] 18689 [109706] 111522 [1.1%] 0.7% -0.4% [16.0%] 14.3% -1.8% [82.8%] 85.0% 2.2% South West Trains [124913] 129975 [1304] 1409 [28228] 30790 [95381] 97776 [1.0%] 1.1% 0.0% [22.6%] 23.7% 1.1% [76.4%] 75.2% -1.1% Thames Trains [62255] 61138 [917] 642 [10048] 8906 [51290] 51590 [1.5%] 1.1% -0.4% [16.1%] 14.6% -1.6% [82.4%] 84.4% 2.0% Thameslink [38578] 34963 [510] 427 [8409] 6245 [29659] 28291 [1.3%] 1.2% -0.1% [21.8%] 17.9% -3.9% [76.9%] 80.9% 4.0% WAGN Railway [75120] 72954 [991] 1355 [14512] 13374 [59617] 58225 [1.3%] 1.9% 0.5% [19.3%] 18.3% -1.0% [79.4%] 79.8% 0.4%

Sub-total [725198] 719989 [8921] 8464 [122988] 112054 [593289] 599471 [1.2%] 1.2% -0.1% [17.0%] 15.6% -1.4% [81.8%] 83.3% 1.5%

Heathrow Express [12577] 12164 [50] 70 [1113] 803 [11414] 11291 [0.4%] 0.6% 0.2% [8.8%] 6.6% -2.2% [90.8%] 92.8% 2.0%

LONGER DISTANCE

Anglia Intercity [5120] 5421 [68] 59 [1222] 890 [3830] 4472 [1.3%] 1.1% -0.2% [23.9%] 16.4% -7.4% [74.8%] 82.5% 7.7% First Great Western [13999] 14839 [179] 150 [4286] 3313 [9534] 11376 [1.3%] 1.0% -0.3% [30.6%] 22.3% -8.3% [68.1%] 76.7% 8.6% Great North Eastern [8835] 9023 [99] 110 [2700] 2435 [6036] 6478 [1.1%] 1.2% 0.1% [30.6%] 27.0% -3.6% [68.3%] 71.8% 3.5% Midland Mainline [10396] 10365 [135] 55 [2480] 1668 [7781] 8642 [1.3%] 0.5% -0.8% [23.9%] 16.1% -7.8% [74.8%] 83.4% 8.5% Virgin West Coast [13812] 13685 [167] 103 [5582] 2855 [8063] 10727 [1.2%] 0.8% -0.5% [40.4%] 20.9% -19.6% [58.4%] 78.4% 20.0%

Sub-total [52162] 53333 [648] 477 [16270] 11161 [35244] 41695 [1.2%] 0.9% -0.3% [31.2%] 20.9% -10.3% [67.6%] 78.2% 10.6%

Previous year's results shown [in parentheses] Percentages rounded to nearest 0.1% Change since previous year shown in italics For definitions see section 7 of report

"Best in class" shown thus "Worst in class" shown thus

NATIONAL RAIL : TRAIN OPERATORS PPM PERFORMANCE : QUARTER 1 ( APRIL TO JUNE) 2002

Shorter Distance Operators Longer Distance Operators Passengers arriving within 5 minutes of timetabled arrival Passengers arriving within 10 minutes of timetabled arrival

100 100 95 95 90 90 85 85 80 80 75 75 70 70 65 65 60 60 55 55 50 50 45 45 40 40 35 35 30 30 25 25 20 20 15 15 10 10 5 5 0 0

Last year This year

ALL TRAINS PERFORMANCE TRENDS LONDON AND SOUTH EAST OPERATORS

c 2 c Chiltern 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 55% 50% 50%

London and south east average London and south east average C 2 C Chiltern London and south east trendline London and south east trendline c2c trendline Chiltern trendline

Connex South Eastern First Great Eastern 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 55% 50% 50%

London and south east average London and south east average Connex South Eastern First Great Eastern London and south east trendline London and south east trendline Connex South Eastern trendline First Great Eastern trendline

Gatwick Express Silverlink 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 55% 50% 50%

London and south east average London and south east average Gatwick Express Silverlink London and south east trendline London and south east trendline Gatwick Express trendline Silverlink trendline ALL TRAINS PERFORMANCE TRENDS LONDON AND SOUTH EAST OPERATORS (CONTINUED)

South Central South West Trains 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 25855%59 50% 50%

Shorter distance average London and south east average South Central South West Trains" London and south east trendline London and south east trendline South Central trendline South West Trains trendline

Thames Trains Thameslink 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 55% 50% 50%

London and south east average London and south east average Thames Trains Thameslink London and south east trendline London and south east trendline Thames Trains trendline Thameslink trendline

West Anglia Great Northern 100% 95% 90% 85% 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% 55% 50%

London and south east average West Anglia Great Northern London and south east trendline West Anglia Great Northern trendline

ALL TRAINS PERFORMANCE TRENDS LONGER DISTANCE OPERATORS

Anglia Intercity First Great Western 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 55% 50% 50%

Longer distance average Longer distance average Anglia Intercity First Great Western Longer distance trendline Longer distance trendline Anglia Intercity trendline Great Western trendline

Great North Eastern Midland Mainline 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 55% 50% 50%

Longer distance average Longer distance average Great North Eastern Midland Mainline Longer distance trendline Longer distance trendline Great North Eastern trendline Midland Mainline trendline

Virgin West Coast 100% 95% 90% 85% 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% 55% 50%

Longer distance average Virgin West Coast Longer distance trendline Virgin West Coast trendline PEAK PERIOD PERFORMANCE TRENDS LONDON COMMUTER OPERATORS ONLY

c 2 c Chiltern 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 55% 50% 50%

London commuter operators average London commuter operators average C 2 C Chiltern London commuter operators trendline London commuter operators trendline c2c trendline Chiltern trendline

Connex South Eastern First Great Eastern 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 55% 50% 50%

London commuter operators average London commuter operators average Connex South Eastern First Great Eastern London commuter operators trendline London commuter operators trendline Connex South Eastern trendline First Great Eastern trendline

SilverlinK South Central 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 55% 50% 50%

London commuter operators average London commuter operators average Silverlink Connex South Central London commuter operators trendline London commuter operators trendline Silverlink trendline Connex South Central trendline PEAK PERIOD PERFORMANCE TRENDS LONDON COMMUTER OPERATIONS ONLY (CONTINUED)

South West Trains Thames Trains 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 55% 50% 50%

London commuter operators average London commuter operators average South West Trains Thames Trains London commuter operators trendline London commuter operators trendline South West Trains trendline Thames Trains trendline

Thameslink West Anglia Great Northern 100% 100% 95% 95% 90% 90% 85% 85% 80% 80% 75% 75% 70% 70% 65% 65% 60% 60% 55% 55% 50% 50%

London commuter operators average London commuter operators average Thameslink West Anglia Great Northern London commuter operators trendline London commuter operators trendline Thameslink trendline West Anglia Great Northern trendline

ATTRIBUTION OF LOST MINUTES AFFECTING PASSENGERS (%) : QUARTER 1 2002-03

LONDON & SOUTH EAST LONGER DISTANCE

CAUSE OF DELAY C2C CHL CSE FGE GWK SLK SCL SWT TLK TTS WGN L&SE ANG FGW GNE MML VWC LD

Depots 5.4 2.3 1.9 1.2 0.9 0.9 1.4 1.2 1.1 5.1 0.5 1.6 1.1 3.1 0.9 3.0 1.5 1.9 Train operations 5.3 7.6 7.9 3.4 8.5 6.5 7.1 6.5 4.7 5.5 6.6 6.5 3.2 3.6 6.0 5.0 5.3 4.8 Train crew 17.6 6.8 5.9 2.4 7.0 7.3 9.7 7.9 6.6 9.4 8.9 7.7 3.2 5.8 3.2 3.2 2.4 3.5 Rolling stock 20.7 19.9 20.4 19.8 15.7 17.3 12.7 19.4 20.7 20.7 13.8 18.3 21.5 21.7 13.6 22.6 20.1 19.4 Stations 3.6 2.0 9.7 2.2 10.8 13.8 3.0 7.1 6.8 4.9 4.7 7.3 2.5 3.0 2.4 3.0 2.5 2.7 External factors 9.8 1.7 7.1 3.7 5.6 7.5 3.0 4.7 6.0 2.8 5.1 5.3 2.0 2.4 2.1 2.2 1.6 2.0 “Neutral zone” 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Total TOC-on-self 61.0 30.1 43.1 17.9 9.9 40.8 23.1 37.9 19.9 22.5 36.2 34.9 23.0 23.9 18.9 26.5 22.9 22.7 Total TOC-on-TOC 1.4 10.3 9.8 14.8 38.6 12.4 13.8 9.0 25.8 25.9 3.2 11.9 10.6 15.8 9.3 12.5 10.6 11.7

TOTAL TOC 62.4 40.4 52.9 32.8 48.4 53.2 37.0 46.9 45.7 48.4 39.4 46.7 33.6 39.7 28.2 38.9 33.5 34.3 DELAYS

Track and structures 9.7 32.3 13.9 19.7 12.7 14.0 40.2 18.6 16.4 16.0 24.4 19.2 31.4 26.6 40.2 32.2 43.5 36.3 Power supply 2.6 0.1 1.6 8.2 3.0 1.0 3.2 0.6 2.9 0.1 3.8 1.9 2.3 0.0 1.2 1.5 4.2 2.0 Signalling and control 6.5 13.8 10.0 13.2 8.8 8.4 8.8 12.4 9.5 13.6 11.3 11.0 11.4 15.5 6.5 8.1 7.4 9.4 Vandalism/acts of God 6.9 2.24.72.03.92.91.52.82.83.61.8 3.0 5.6 3.8 2.8 3.9 2.8 3.5 Railtrack Neutral Zone 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Other factors 8.8 9.9 16.3 24.1 22.1 19.9 8.8 18.4 21.4 16.2 18.8 17.5 15.6 13.7 18.8 14.7 7.7 13.3 Unexplained 0.1 1.3 0.5 0.1 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.4 1.3 2.1 0.4 0.6 0.2 0.7 2.3 0.7 1.0 1.1

TOTAL RAILTRACK DELAYS 37.6 59.6 47.1 67.2 51.6 46.8 63.0 53.1 54.3 51.6 60.6 53.3 66.4 60.3 71.8 61.1 66.5 65.7

KEY TO TRAIN OPERATORS C2C C2C SCL South Central ANG Anglia CHL Chiltern SWT South West Trains FGW First Great Western CSE Connex South Eastern TLK Thameslink GNE Great North Eastern FGE First Great Eastern TTS Thames Trains MML Midland Mainline GWK Gatwick Express WGN West Anglia Great Northern VWC Virgin West Coast SLK Silverlink L&SE All in London and south east LD All longer distance Annex G

TRAIN OPERATORS REPORTS

Narrative commentaries on performance supplied by the train operating companies are reproduced verbatim.

The companies appear in alphabetical sequence, with London and south east operators preceding those providing longer distance services.

c2c

The improvement in performance in the first quarter of this year has been maintained throughout the second quarter mainly due to the continued improvement in the reliability of the new 357 fleet. Progress continues to be made with Railtrack in working together to reduce infrastructure delays and c2c attribution continues at the improved levels achieved since the start of the year.

The most significant incident this quarter took place on 2nd May when a fire in a sub- station at Barking cut the power to the overhead lines resulting in 13 cancellations and only 2 trains terminating on time during the evening peak.

The Chiltern Railway Company ltd.

Report to the London Transport Users Committee.

Quarter 1 – April to June 2002.

Safety. There were two major operational incidents over the quarter. The first was a Category A SPAD at signal ME509 on 22nd June 2002. The second was the detaching of the rear portion of the 23.54 Marylebone to Aylesbury service at Harrow on the 7th June, Driver error caused the problem in that the correct procedure was not followed to reset the train systems following the triggering of the tripcock. The Chiltern Board considered reports of thorough investigations in to both incidents and instructed that appropriate action be taken to minimise the risk of similar incidents reoccurring.

Physical and verbal assaults on staff remain a concern. Conflict avoidance training is underway, the Safety Culture Survey programmed for September will seek to test the effectiveness of this training.

The trespass & vandalism hot spots on the Chiltern line of route remain: • Wembley to Northolt. • High Wycombe. • Aylesbury. • Warwick and Leamington Spa. We continue to improve our working relationship with and Railtrack to reduce T&V. We are actively encouraging Railtrack to accelerate their fencing programme in the Warwick and Leamington Spa areas to reduce the opportunity for trespass. BTP have stepped-up “scarecrow” patrols to deter T&V and have recently made arrests in the Princes Risborough area. The T&V Board will meet at the end of August to assess incidents and trends over the school holiday period and to ascertain whether security initiatives have been effective.

Performance.

PERFORMANCE PERIOD 1 PERIOD 2 PERIOD 3 PPM 2001 84.37% 80.72% 93.44% PPM 2002 91.56% 86.70% 90.90% Charter Punctuality 90.68% 86.54% 94.34% 2001 Charter 92.99% 90.05% 91.32% Punctuality 2002.

PPM over the quarter was disappointing by our standards. We continue to brief staff on the importance of maintaining a safe and punctual railway. Staff are briefed weekly on the previous weeks performance and on key areas of Chiltern’s own performance that need to be improved.

Railtrack’s performance over the quarter was less than desirable. We continue to press Railtrack to develop maintenance strategies for “golden assets” and to better manage the introduction and removal of TSR’s and ESR’s. Notwithstanding the above the track doubling north of Bicester was completed on time and under budget, and the benefit was apparent from the first day of operation.

Service Disruption.

Judging from the response from passengers our planning and implementation of alternative travel arrangements for passengers during the 17-day blockade at the end of April was a success. The blockade between Bicester North and Aynho Junction was necessary to complete the track-doubling scheme; the final connections were installed during the first weekend in August. There continued to be evening and weekend disruption over the quarter to facilitate improvements to the Chiltern route and for the Cross Country Modernisation Programme in the . The decision to appoint Fraser Eagle to operate the rail replacement bus services on our behalf continues to be successful; Fraser Eagles clear focus on customer service has ensured that complaints regarding bus services have been minimal.

Timetable.

The quarter saw the introduction of the summer timetable; there are no significant problems with the operation of the timetable. Additional weekend services were introduced from the 10th August 2002 to offer passengers displaced by the disruption on the West Coast Mainline an alternative rail service between Birmingham and London. Early indications show that passengers are increasingly using the fast London to Birmingham services on the Chiltern network; we intend to continue the operation of these services through to December.

At the end of September we will introduce the new timetable for Winter 2002. Planning for the winter timetable has taken account of the additional services set out in the Franchise Agreement (such as additional services between London and High Wycombe) and the impact of Virgins’ contractual rights in the West Midlands. The impact of the latter means that five Warwick Parkway to London services have been removed from the timetable. In addition the fast peak London to Birmingham services have been recast resulting in a re-write of much of the timetable that has been established for about four years. To improve performance and offer a better range of journey options we will introduce a shuttle service on the branch line between Princes Risborough and Aylesbury. We are concerned that the current operating environment cannot readily accommodate the level of demand that TOCs are seeking to satisfy on the London to Birmingham corridor. Our assessment of performance risk associated with the winter timetable and the disquiet expressed by some passenger groups about the proposed service changes, mostly as a consequence of fitting around Virgin’s contractual paths, means that we will carefully monitor the performance (punctuality and reliability) of the new timetable. As a contingency we are seriously considering a radical review of the timetable for January 2003 and hope to present our proposals for consultation in the early part of September.

Customer Complaints.

Customer letters PERIOD 1 PERIOD 2 PERIOD 3 All letters 582 1104 1265 Praise letters 20 3 19 Total passenger 2,302,000 2,234,000 2,316,000 journeys

Achievements.

New Trains and Platforms. The 7 new intermediate Class 168 vehicles were delivered in August are in use. The full benefit of these vehicles will not be felt until the first phase of platform extensions is completed in December 2002. The delay in starting the platform extension project is largely attributable to the protracted negotiations with Railtrack over the Works agreement and various station specific issues with Central Trains, causing many possessions to be missed.

Bicester Taxi Bus. The Bicester Taxi Bus scheme was introduced in the quarter. A good start has been made to the rural bus scheme with no major operational problems. On average 125 passengers are carried per week.

The town scheme continues to show strong results with over 525 passengers carried each week. Journey Solutions have agreed to award the Taxi Bus Scheme Gold Level Accreditation. A photo call is being arranged. A full route review is currently being carried out, in an attempt see any if improvements can be made.

Passenger Board. The Board held its second meeting this year in May. The Board subsequently met in August (and will next meet in October 2002) and agreed to promote the Taxi Bus project at other locations on the Chiltern route as its preferred integrated transport scheme. A formal request will now be made to all Local Transport Planning Authorities on the Chiltern route to ascertain the extent to which Taxi Bus schemes can be funded by local transport plans.

Spring 2002 National Passenger Survey. The results published by the SRA demonstrated that passengers rated as the top train operating company in London and the South East for overall satisfaction with their journey. We are pleased that the investment programme to improve trains, track and stations is already paying dividends.

Chiltern Railways – August 2002.

Connex SE

Rachel King Friars Bridge Court London Transport Users Committee 41-45, Blackfriars Road Clements House London, 14-18 Gresham Street SE1 8PG London EC2V 7PR Tel. 020 7620 5871 Fax. 020 7620 5550 E-mail : [email protected]

27th August, 2002

Dear Rachel,

April, May, June 2002 Performance

During this quarter our new Electrostar trains (class 375) were introduced into passenger service and from 27th May, 5x8 car trains were operating between and Chatham and 2x8 car trains on the . As a result of on-going, reliability-led, modifications to our stock, seat availability was also improved on our suburban services due to higher availability of rolling stock.

Regrettably, an increase in graffiti attacks in the Metro area meant that in order to provide the train service required, some units were running in a less than acceptable state. Several measures have been implemented in order to deter vandals, including security guard patrols.

A sample of incidents and details of performance are attached.

John Thompson Head of Operations

Top 5 Incidents (by minutes delay) for April, May, June 2002 :-

April • On 4th April, defective unit at Gravesend. • On 30th April, passenger injury at Marden. • On 26th April, interlock problem in train at Lewisham. • On 9th April, train waiting for a at London Bridge.

May • On 30th May, an empty train failed at Paddock Wood. • On 1st May, an empty train lost electrical power supply at Dartford, probably due to driving technique. • On 23rd May, a train at Charing Cross was delayed waiting for a driver. • On 17th May, a train lost its shoegear at Beckenham Junction.

June • On 13th June, a train hit a wooden crate on the track and its shoegear got damaged on way back to depot (Dartford). • On 20th June, a train had a technical problem with AWS at Spa Road. • On 29th June, a train had a SPAD at Kidbrooke Tunnel. • On 9th June, there was a security alert at Gillingham.

Comparisons of 2002 to 2001 figures for Peak Punctuality and All day Reliability :-

Period Service Group Punctuality Punctuality Reliability Reliability 2002 2001 2002 2001 1 Coast 85.8 % 87.0 % 98.6 % 99.2 % Kent Link 86.2 % 89.5 % 98.9 % 99.1 % 2 Kent Coast 86.7 % 82.5 % 99.5 % 98.9 % Kent Link 83.7 % 86.8 % 98.6 % 98.7 % 3 Kent Coast 83.5 % 88.9 % 99.3 % 99.1 % Kent Link 84.2 % 90.9 % 98.7 % 99.1 %

2002 Period 1 = 01/04/02 to 27/04/02 Period 2 = 28/04/02 to 25/05/02 Period 3 = 26/05/02 to 22/06/02

FIRST GREAT EASTERN

Performance commentary

1st Quarter 2002/2003

First Great Eastern’s steady operational recovery has continued throughout the period with the company regaining its position as London’s most punctual train operator as published in the SRA’s ‘On Track’ report for the previous Quarter.

This improvement has been achieved despite a number of speed restrictions remaining.

Of particular interest for LTUC is the performance of First Great Eastern’s Metro service on the Liverpool Street/Shenfield route. Because it operates effectively over dedicated tracks with a simple high frequency timetable, the operating challenges are less than with the other long distance routes.

The combined peaks punctuality figures for the Metro service resulted in 97.3%, 97.8% and 95.1% 0 to 5 minutes late in periods 1, 2 and 3 respectively – a world class performance. This has moved the moving annual average from around 88% at the end of the previous financial year to about 92% at the start of period 4. These route figures have made a strong contribution to the overall MAA and we will be able to report in the next commentary that the Passenger’s Charter discounts for punctuality have ceased.

The morning peaks are consistently better than the evening peaks on the Metro services indicating where further overall improvement can be made.

Reliability remains high throughout the Great Eastern network.

TRAIN PERFORMANCE APRIL TO JUNE 2002

Three good periods within this quarter for punctuality, each period has produced Charter figures above our target of 90% with the highest being May, which, produced a period figure of 92.53%

More worrying however was the reliability figure which failed to meet target of 99.5% for each period. The main issue was 55 cancellations in total due to broken rails and conductor rail displacement, which caused major disruption to our services and required GEL to reduce to a half hourly service on 4 occasions. Initial study from June onwards indicate that this was an exception rather than the rule, with exceptionally high temperatures more than playing there part on at least one occasion resulting in 36 cancellations.

Gatwick Express continues to work with Railtrack and other TOCs operating on the Brighton Main Line to find ways of reducing delays and increasing the reliability of the network.

Marc Vince Performance & Track Access Manager Gatwick Express Limited

Silverlink

Metro

Performance remains consistently high on Metro routes with punctuality on North London Lines in the low 90%’s and in the high 90%’s on the Watford Locals route. Levels of cancellation have also continued to improve over the last 3 periods. Significant incidents in this quarter included a power failure at Dalston on 5th June which caused 877 minutes delay an a fire in a restaurant above on 19th April causing 610 minutes delay.

On 15th April, a track circuit failure at Camden Road resulted in disruption to the North London Lines causing 727 minutes of delay.

Total delay on the route has continued to improve with both Silverlink and Railtrack minutes reduced over the last 3 months and maintaining the considerable improvement in delay over the last two years.

County

Punctuality over the last 3 months has remained on a par with that of the previous 3 months. The first 2 months from the start of April to the end of May continued to rise and matched the levels of performance achieved towards the end of 2000/1 but this was not matched by performance in June. That said, performance in the last quarter shows a marked improvement over the same time period last year.

The number of Temporary Speed Restrictions (TSR’s) related to track condition has remained fairly constant throughout the last quarter and is still the biggest single cause of delay to Silverlink County services.

In addition, a number of major incidents have also impacted on the performance of the route. An overrunning engineering possession at Northampton on 16/05/02 coupled with overhead line problems in the Milton Keynes area on the same day caused a significant number of cancellations and delays as did a fire in a restaurant above Wembley Central Station on 19/04/02.

Despite this, the level of delay minutes across the route remains at a consistently low level compared to previous performance with the last three periods being amongst the lowest for the last 18 months.

Though reliability has shown a slight decline over the past 3 months, it remains fairly consistent and an improvement over last year’s levels.

South West Trains

LONDON TRANSPORT USERS’ COMMITTEE

South West Trains’ performance – April to June 2002

We are pleased that since the beginning of the year figures have been moving in the right direction and have continued to rise throughout this period.

Various initiatives introduced by the special taskforce set up to improve performance, at the end of last year, have begun to have a positive impact on services across our network. T-30, one of the initiatives introduced, aims to ensure that all trains depart from stations exactly on time. The taskforce has also put in place back up procedures in the event of a train failure to cut down the knock on effect this has on the rest of the service.

Of the delays that occurred during this time many were outside of our control such as overrun engineering works, signal faults, line side fires, track circuit failures, bridge bashes and fatalities. We are working with Railtrack to try and ensure such incidents are minimised and as little disruption as possible.

Thames Trains

Rail Performance Report

April to June 2002 ( Railway Periods 1 – 3 )

Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to comment on our operational performance for the above periods. The key indices for this period are as follows :-

Category P 1 MAA P 2 MAA P 3 MAA Charter 83.6% 81.1% 82.9% 80.4% 79.9% 80.1% Punctuality Charter 99.2% 98.8% 99.3% 98.8% 99.0% 98.8% Reliability All Day 86.8% 81.8% 84.9% 81.9% 84.5% 82.0% Punctuality

It has proved extremely difficult within the period in question to get our period charter punctuality back to the levels of just over a year ago and as a consequence, the MAA remains entrenched at around 80%. The network still proves to be extremely fragile, particularly in the evenings. The occasional 100% figure has been returned but significant disruption to one or two peaks has served to drag the overall level down significantly. As an example, some of the worst peaks through this period have been:-

5th March (pm) – Leaking ballast causing points failure at Appleford resulting in 50% return. 13th May (am) – Overrun & points failure at Paddington resulting in a 19.5% return. 20th June (pm) – Rail defect at Southall and FGW failure at West Drayton resulting in a 39.5% return.

Attribution for delay within the period was:-

Railtrack 47% Thames Trains 23% (of which 16% attributable to fleet) Other TOC/FOCs 25% Other 5%

Charter reliability continues to hold up well with over 99% of scheduled trains within period actually running. Of those cancellations that have occurred, the primary cause has been driver availability. The significant resources expended by this company over the last 2 years are now beginning to yield results with the gap between number of productive drivers available and those required to run the scheduled timetable starting to close.

The number of complaints received by this company over the period was significantly down on both a year ago and preceding periods, particularly those pertaining to our Train Service provision.

A 165 turbo unit has now been fitted with a trail based CCTV system and we are monitoring the effect of this upon the on-train environment. Wherever possible, this unit will be diagrammed to inner services.

Mike Crane Regulatory Relations Manager

Thameslink

COMMENTARY FOR LTUC BULLETIN – THAMESLINK RAIL

Thameslink provides the cross London Bedford – Brighton and – Sutton services. As such it stops at five central London stations and operates on one of the most heavily congested routes.

The performance recovery that started at the beginning of the year continues with the moving annual average figure for punctuality to 16th August up at 78.90% on our core charter route. Reliability remains consistent although it has slipped slightly recently to 98.50%.

Punctuality still falls short of where Thameslink would like it to be and during the period many of the problems relating to our punctuality have to do with infrastructure difficulties and congestion along routes served. A spate of trains suffering mechanical failure, points, signal and track circuit failures conspired to hamper growth of the punctuality figure. The problems were accentuated in August with flooding resulting from a severe storm in the Farringdon area which effectively cut cross London service for 36 hours. Continuing infrastructure failures following this “freak” incident hampered the recovery of services.

Reliability is slightly down following a small increase in fleet failures. These range from shoe gear being knocked off moving trains, through sticking door problems, overhead line equipment tripping out and culminating with the loss of three units due to flood damage caused by the August storm. These units are likely to be out of commission for up to three months which has resulted in a number of short formations and some temporary cancellations on a limited number of services.

The general performance trend is upwards and it is hoped that once the service has fully recovered from the short term problems caused by the storms in August that this trend will resume.

WAGN

Great Northern

Performance over the last 3 months has remained at levels comparable to those in the previous 3 months despite the derailment at Potters Bar, though levels pre-Hatfield have still to be attained. The incident at Potters Bar is not apparent in the statistics since the way in which figures are calculated allows the effects of such a major incident to be excluded. In reality, there was massive disruption to services leading to an emergency timetable being operated.

Driver recruitment remains on target and improvements will be apparent by October/November when the majority of new recruits have passed through training.

Aside from the incident at Potters Bar, services were severely affected by a fatality at Welwyn North Tunnel on 30th May which resulted in 3458 minutes delay and speed restrictions due to rail conditions between Letchworth and Royston which accounted for 2511 minutes of delay.

West Anglia

The marked improvement in performance achieved in the last period of the previous quarter has been maintained throughout all 3 months of the last quarter. The biggest cause of disruption to services has been two line side fires. The first took place on 17th April at St. James Street Station causing 2709 minutes delay. The second was on 24th April at Cambridge Heath causing the largest incident during the entire quarter with a total of 5171 minutes delay. Due to the fact that both of these incidents were out side of rail industry control, the effects of each were not included in the calculation of performance figures.

However, overhead line problems on 5th June at Harlow causing 2656 minutes and signaling problems at Bethnal Green on 30th May which caused 2357 minutes delay. Both impacted on performance figures.

The second biggest cause of delay on the West Anglia Route was track circuit failures with a total of 7080 minutes disruption to services spread over 51 separate incidents. The largest of these was on 31st May at Tottenham South Junction and resulted in 1277 minutes delay to services.

Anglia Railways Mainline Services Performance Report: Apr–Jun 2002

Norwich – London / London Crosslink services

Mainline performance in the period covered by this report (p1 - 3) continued to show an improvement on the previous quarter with the 13-period moving annual average punctuality figure for the four weeks ending 22 June 2002 at 86.0%. Reliability for the same period was pretty consistent on the previous quarter, improving slightly to 99.03%.

Overall performance has remained solid as the following table of delays per 1000 train miles indicates:

Delays per 1000 train miles MAA P1 –13 (previous period figures in brackets)

Overall Position Railtrac Position TOC Position TOC on Position Delay k delay on self TOC as victim Averag 83 (86) N/A 40 (43) N/A 32(33) N/A 11(11) N/A e Anglia 68 (70) 7th (6th) 40 (39) =12th(7th) 18(20) =5th(=7th) 9(11) =8th(11th)

The ‘delays per train mile table’ is the most useful measure to act as a performance benchmark. has produced solid performance with self-caused delays compared with the industry average.

The Strategic Rail Authority’s figures on punctuality continue to show Anglia Railways overall as the best of the long distance operators and second to the small of all the regional operators, for the company’s local train services.

Key issues

On the mainline, condition of track, signalling and other infrastructure related faults continue to be of concern.

In order to improve the perfomance of Anglia’s mainline locomotive fleet, a Class 90 locomotive is currently on trial and if successful a number of these will be introduced permanently over the coming months.

Local service performance for the quarter declined slightly with the overall aggregate MAA figure at 90.3%.

First Great Western Report for LTUC Covering periods 1/2/3

Performance

Performance on the Great Western Zone improved in the first few months of this year, in the last few months’ punctuality has again fallen.

Passenger services felt the severe effects of speed restrictions in May, when the imposition of a speed twenty mile per hour speed restriction at Westerleigh affected services into South Wales. On some routes the delay caused by speed restrictions was greater that the allowance in the timetable making punctual operations impossible.

Towards the end of June a number of restrictions were lifted and performance improved. However performance on the Great Western Zone remains fragile.

The first of £80m fleet of new trains entered full passenger service this month. The new trains offer many new benefits including capacity and comfort benefits. Work is also underway to boost the reliability of the existing High Speed Fleet, and tackle the 20% of delays for which First Great Western is responsible.

Plans for Infrastructure Improvements are as follows

• Scheme to restore a double junction at Filton Junction, removing conflict between trains. • Probus – Burngullow re-doubling • Swindon Platform 4 (Delivery target May 2003)

Charter Reliability Period 1 April 81.0 97.9 Period 2 May 80.9 98.5 Period 3 June 81.5 98.1

Temporary Railtrack speed restrictions on the Great Western zone numbered 115, with 64 affecting Great Western performance. Although 11 were removed recently, 11 more were applied. 126 GCC restrictions have been removed in the last year

Adelante Update

The new fleet of five-coach trains, entered service in the summer timetable.

Services are as follows 0802 Cheltenham / Paddington 0955 Cardiff / Paddington 1655 Cardiff / Paddington 1330 Paddington / Cardiff 1945 Paddington / Bristol Temple Meads 2240 Bristol Temple Meads / Paddington

There has been some feedback regarding overcrowding on the Adelantes – in particular the 0802 and the 1945. Following a full review and detailed feedback from passengers FGW has introduced leaflets to ensure that passengers are aware of the layout of the train. Some passenger’s have been standing when seats were available in the audio carriage - carriage E on the other side of the First Class carriage.

To further address the overcrowding issue from August FGW will run the Adelante in a 10 car formation. This will require two train crews to provide the on board service.

Commercial Planning

Winter 2002/3

First Great Western’s complete ‘bid’ for Winter 2002/3 was submitted on time on Friday 8th March.

For confirmation, our winter timetable is essentially a continuation of the Summer service pattern, and features:

• Operation of six daily Adelante diagrams. • Withdrawal of all locomotive-hauled services, apart from the sleeper. • Restoration of the South Wales services for which SRA derogation is currently held. • The operation of one additional evening service from South Wales.

Summer and Winter Timetable 2003

Details of the draft timetable for next year have been sent to the RPCs and LTUC. Included to this draft is the bid for two three-hour services to and from Plymouth.

Our continued focus will be to be to endeavour to improve punctuality on core services rather than run additional services.

Edith Rodgers Customer Relationship Manager First Great Western