“A railway doing what it should do” – London Overground leads the way on punctuality

Photo: John Sturrock

London Overground was Britain’s most punctual rail service last month, with 96.4 per cent of trains arriving within five minutes of their scheduled time.

The encouraging figures, released by Network Rail, represent the second month running that the service has topped national league tables.

In December, when train services nationwide were hit by snow and ice, 93.5 per cent of London Overground trains arrived on time, according to the figures.

Transport for London has hailed the figures, which represent a 7.3% year on year improvement in punctuality.

“This is the result of our £1.4bn investment and three years of hard work on the network,” a TfL spokesperson said. “The network was once one of the most neglected railways in the country and with a hugely improved infrastructure and new trains, it is now providing a fast, efficient and reliable service to Londoners.”

However, Network Rail have played down the significance of the figures. A spokesperson said: “Usually we’d expect all of our railways to operate at this level. London Overground represents an example of a railway operating as it should do.”

The national average for train punctuality is 90.3 per cent.

In May last year the Overground network was expanded to include the revamped East London Line between West Croydon and Dalston Junction.

The line is operated by a private company, London Overground Rail Operations Limited, which took over five London train routes in 2007.

Network Rail releases monthly punctuality figures for the country’s 19 rail operators. A train is considered to be “on time” if it arrives within five minutes of its scheduled arrival for commuter services and ten minutes for long distance services.

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