Annual assessments from the Office of Rail and Road has found that train performance worsened during 2022-23, with 67.8% of trains arriving on time.

In the previous year, 73.1% of trains arrived on time – and freight performance is now at its lowest level since 2014.

Industrial action affected performance, but the ORR also found that delays caused by Network Rail also increased.

Network Rail has been told to focus on three areas:

• Improving asset reliability
• Working with operators to make a more resilient timetable
• When things go wrong, get services recovered quicker

Feras Alshaker, Director, Planning & Performance said: “There is no escaping the fact that currently, the rail industry is not delivering enough punctual and reliable services. Our report highlights that Network Rail needs to make assets like signalling and tracks more reliable, build more resilient timetables, and recover from incidents more quickly.

“There aren’t simple, quick, fixes, and there are still challenges, and it is good to see that Network Rail and the wider industry is pulling together to address the difficult issues. For passengers and freight users these improvement plans must be delivered on now, and we will step in if we do not see sufficient progress.”