Dispatches: Train Journeys from Hell

21 March 2011

Richard Wilson

Dispatches reveals the methods used by train companies to hit punctuality targets and avoid paying out compensation to commuters.

Dispatches investigates the railways and reveals the methods used by train companies to hit punctuality targets and avoid paying out compensation to commuters.   

Train companies and even Network Rail have recently won plaudits from the regulator for beating punctuality targets. Nevertheless train punctuality remains one of main bugbears for many train commuters.   

So when is a late train not late? A few weeks ahead of a major Government spending review on the trains, Dispatches sent actor Richard Wilson on a journey to find out.    

Under the rules, train companies have to offer discounts or compensation to the customer if their punctuality figures slip below a set level.

One way to avoid pay outs is to put the blame on somebody else.   

Richard Wilson discovered that the rail companies and Network Rail employ around 300 Delay Attribution Officers who are tasked with working out who is to blame for the delays.  They are not employed to help commuters but to save money for the train companies.

Even if trains are frequently late on a particular route commuters may still not get compensation.

One reason is because train companies may average out the punctuality figures for their entire operation.

The flagship High Speed One operated by South Eastern is not just fast, but it's also got a 90 per cent plus punctuality record.

Critics say that High Speed One's punctuality performance was one factor that helped South Eastern trains avoid triggering compensation payments to passengers running in to the millions.

Ashwin Kumar, Passenger Director for Independent rail watchdog Passenger Focus, says:  "The issue with South Eastern is if their punctuality falls below 82% they have to give a 5% discount to passengers and, actually, what happened was that their punctuality fell - fell to 82.04%. Now that's just over the margin."

"They didn't have to give a 5% discount to passengers, but it's so close that we think that there needs to be some independent checking of that to make sure that there weren't any errors in the calculation, and that the independent checking needs to be published so that we can all see the results of that", he adds

Chris, a South Eastern commuter who provide Dispatches with Video diaries says:  "You have a rail firm that's just narrowly missed the target for compensation and increased fares by 13 per cent and also as a token gesture given a 20 M and S voucher, I think it's really insulting."

South Eastern asked auditors to examine the way in which its annual punctuality figures up to December last year had been calculated.

Last month this study approved South Eastern's figures, although the company didn't  release further details.

South Eastern told Dispatches that its punctuality figures are recorded in the normal way as well as being independently checked.

It said more than 90 per cent of its trains currently run on time and it had compensated passengers with £300,000 of shop vouchers due to winter delays. 

But the punctuality methods don't just stop there.   

Richard Wilson discovered that trains can run to a secret timetable in this country - a non publicised so called ‘working timetable'. This gives the operators extra time to be on time - an inbuilt buffer - and a chance to improve punctuality figures further still.

In addition long distance trains are allowed to be late by 10 minutes and shorter distance trains are allowed five minutes and they are still considered to be on time.

Furthermore, if a train is delayed along the way that doesn't necessarily mean it is late. 

A train is only considered late at its final destination.  In other words trains that arrive late into station's on route are not considered late if the train can make up the time later in the journey.  

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