New website lets rail commuters keep track of late trains

Rail firms will be forced to admit that three times as many trains are delayed than current figures show, as a new website will for the first time let commuters check when their train is just one minute late.

At present Network Rail data shows nine in ten (89.1 per cent) of trains arrive "on time", but this will fall to two in three (66.9 per cent) under the new measure, which deems a train "late" if it arrives 60 seconds after its due time.  

Current figures deem a train service “late” if it arrives at its destination more than five minutes after its due time on a short journey or 10 minutes on a long distance route.

Last night campaigners said commuters had been misled over delays for years. 

Anthony Smith, head of watchdog Transport Focus, said: “Train timetables need to be a work of fact, not fiction. So, it is good to see train operators reporting true on time performance to the minute at every station.”

It is expected that the website, which goes live in April, will be used by commuters who suspect their trains are regularly suffering mild delays.  

The “My Train Journey” site will allow passengers to see to-the-minute delays to their service.

And details will be laid bare on a service-by-service basis with peak-trains among the worst performers.  

For example, the 17.06 from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport was on time just 8pc of the time between Feb 10 and Mar 9.

And a train servicing the post-work rush between Northallerton and York at 17.09 did not arrive on time once during the same period, while eight out of every 10 of the 17.57 Birmingham New Street services bound for Manchester Piccadilly were late.

Delays remain a hot topic on the railways with train companies under pressure to better compensate beleaguered commuters for delays.

The Telegraph revealed earlier this month that only a fraction - just 20p in every pound - of delay compensation paid by taxpayer-funded Network Rail to the rail companies is then passed onto rail users.

The Rail Delivery Group, a trade body that represents both train firms and Network Rail, claimed that today’s changes make Britain's trains "the most transparent of all major railways in Europe”.

RDG chief executive Paul Plummer said: “Every second matters to us and our customers which is why rail companies have together developed and are now using these to-the-minute measures for train punctuality at every station part of our plan to improve the railway today.”

Calling the move “a positive step for passengers”, Transport Focus’ Mr Smith added: “Passengers want a reliable, on-time train service. How that performance is measured and reported should, our research shows, mirror passengers’ real-life experience to help build passenger trust.”

Janet Cooke, chief executive of London Travelwatch said: “This is a welcome change which will help focus the industry on passenger needs and foster a culture of ‘start on time, stay on time, arrive on time'.”