Railway performance and subsidy statistics Standard Note: SN/SG/2199 Last updated: 2 October 2013 Author: Matthew Keep Social and General Statistics Section This Note provides data and commentary relating to the performance of, and subsidy to, Train Operating Companies. Headline figures are as follows: In Q1 2013/14, 93.0% of franchised trains arrived on time in Great Britain according to the Public Performance Measure (PPM); PPM has remained above 92% in Q1 since 2008/09. During 2012/13, 68.1% of trains arrived early or within one minute of their scheduled arrival time; a decrease of 1.7 percentage points on 2011/12. Since Spring 2000 rail passengers have become more positive about the majority of aspects of their journey. However, their satisfaction in value for money of their ticket has remained largely unchanged. In 2012/13 franchise fees received from active Train Operating Companies (TOCs) outweighed subsidies paid, to the tune of 536.8m. Subsidies continue to be paid in respect of socially necessary services that might not otherwise be provided. Contents A. Public Performance Measure (PPM) 2 B. Right Time Punctuality 4 C. National Passenger Survey 5 D. Complaints 7 E. Subsidies 8 Standard Notes are compiled for the benefit of Members of Parliament and their personal staff. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff but cannot advise others.
A. Public Performance Measure (PPM) Table 1 (overleaf) details PPM at the national level and by Train Operating Company (TOC) and TOC sector. In Q1 2013/14, 93.0% of all franchised trains in Great Britain arrived on time, an increase of 0.2 percentage points on Q1 2012/13. Performance as measured by the Moving Annual Average (MAA) up to 30 June 2013 was 91.0% in Great Britain. 100 Public performance measure - moving annual average Average percentage of franchised trains arriving on time 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 Average for four preeceeding quarters Quarterly figure 20 10 0 1999/00 (Q1) 2002/03 (Q1) 2005/06 (Q1) 2008/09 (Q1) 2011-12 (Q1) In Q1, 2013/14 PPM was highest amongst regional operators with 93.3% arriving on time and lowest amongst long distance operators (90.3%). PPM was highest for c2c (96.7%) amongst all TOCs; c2c also had the highest MAA to 30 June 2013 (96.9%). PPM The PPM measures performance of individual trains against their planned timetable. Where a train fails to run its entire planned route calling at all timetabled stations, it will either be shown as cancelled (if it runs to less than half its planned mileage) or will be added to the report of those trains 20 minutes or more later than timetabled at their final destination. Trains which complete their whole route calling at all timetabled stations are measured for punctuality at their final destination. A train s performance is recorded by the automated monitoring system which logs performance usually using the signalling equipment. Late trains are banded according to the length of delay in reaching their final destination. A train is defined as being on time if it arrives within five minutes (London and South East or regional operators) or within ten minutes (long distance operators) of the planned destination arrival time. The timetable against which the trains are judged is known as the plan of the day timetable. This timetable generally reflects the printed timetable as amended for planned engineering works or major incidents. 2
Table 1: Public Performance Measure by Train Operating Company Percentage of trains arriving on time Great Britain 2010/11 to 2013/14 4 7 8 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 MAA 1 to end Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1 of June 2013 Arriva Trains Wales 95.6 94.5 94.8 95.4 94.6 c2c 96.8 96.9 97.7 96.7 96.9 Chiltern Railways 95.1 95.2 94.9 96.2 95.6 Cross Country 90.0 90.7 89.1 91.2 88.8 East Coast 87.5 86.8 87.3 87.2 82.2 East Midlands Trains 94.3 94.0 93.7 93.7 92.5 First Capital Connect 92.3 92.2 90.0 90.9 87.5 First Great Western 92.6 91.2 91.7 91.4 90.7 First ScotRail 94.5 91.9 94.4 92.7 92.7 First Transpennine Express 94.3 94.1 93.9 94.1 92.0 Greater Anglia 92.0 92.7 92.8 94.5 92.7 London Midland 92.2 92.4 91.2 89.0 86.4 London Overground 95.0 96.4 95.8 96.6 96.3 Merseyrail 96.3 96.6 96.4 96.6 96.3 Northern 93.6 93.2 93.5 93.1 91.8 South West Trains 95.9 93.9 92.4 93.9 92.3 Southeastern 92.2 93.7 92.9 93.9 91.6 Southern 93.5 92.8 91.1 91.5 88.7 Virgin Trains 89.5 87.7 86.3 85.4 82.3 Peak Services c2c 96.2 95.9 96.8 97.3 96.5 Chiltern Railways 93.8 94.0 92.3 93.7 92.5 First Capital Connect 90.0 90.2 88.0 89.3 83.8 First Great Western 89.2 88.3 86.8 86.3 84.6 London Midland 89.4 84.8 84.7 80.7 77.1 London Overground 97.5 96.8 97.1 97.7 97.3 Greater Anglia 91.0 91.3 90.8 94.6 90.1 Southeastern 87.6 90.4 90.4 92.3 88.2 Southern 90.2 90.3 86.5 86.9 81.7 South West Trains 95.2 92.1 89.9 92.7 88.8 Non-franchised Operator First Hull trains 87.7 82.5 81.1 88.2 82.4 Grand Central 83.5 85.2 85.5 83.0 78.4 Heathrow Express 94.2 95.9 95.9 94.5 93.4 Long distance operator 2 90.8 90.1 89.7 90.3 87.3 London and South East operators 3 (inc peak) 93.6 93.4 92.5 93.2 91.2 London and South East operators (peak) 91.0 91.0 89.6 91.2 87.3 Regional Operators 4 94.0 93.2 94.0 93.3 91.4 National Level 5 93.5 93.1 92.8 93.0 91.0 Notes: 1 Moving annual average: the mean value of a year s w orth of values. 2 Long distance operators include; Cross Country; East Midlands Trains; First Great Western (high-speed); First Transpenine Express; East Coast; Greater Anglia; and Virgin Trains. 3 London and South East operators include; c2c; Chiltern Railw ays; First Capital Connect; First Great Western (commuter); London Midland; London Overground; Greater Anglia; Southeastern; Southern; and South West Trains. 4 Regional operators include; Arriva Trains Wales; East Midland Trains; First Great Western; First ScotRail; London Midland; Merseyrail; and Northern 5 Excludes non-franchised operators Source: Office of Rail Regulation National Rail Trends Portal. 3
B. Right Time Punctuality Right time punctuality measures the proportion of trains arriving early or within one minute of their scheduled arrival time. In 2012/13, 68.1% of trains arrived on time, a figure 1.7 percentage points lower than in 2011/12. Performance is highest amongst regional operators with 70.5% of trains arriving on time, and lowest amongst long distance operators (54.8%). No allowance is made in this measure for the greater distances travelled by long-distance operators. It is therefore unsurprising that in all but three years between 1997/98 and 2012/13, long-distance operators have had the smallest proportion of trains arriving on time. Table 2: Right time punctuality, by sector % of trains arriving early or within one minute of scheduled arrival time Sector London & South East Long Distance Regional National 1997/98 67.1% 59.9% 73.6% 69.8% 1998/99 60.5% 56.6% 69.3% 64.3% 1999/00 57.6% 59.6% 69.2% 62.9% 2000/01 47.1% 43.6% 57.6% 51.6% 2001/02 44.4% 38.4% 50.8% 46.9% 2002/03 45.8% 40.6% 53.1% 48.7% 2003/04 47.8% 45.3% 55.6% 51.1% 2004/05 55.0% 52.3% 54.6% 54.7% 2005/06 61.1% 57.6% 57.4% 59.4% 2006/07 63.3% 62.6% 62.0% 62.7% 2007/08 66.8% 63.4% 66.0% 66.2% 2008/09 68.3% 63.5% 68.5% 68.0% 2009/10 69.3% 65.8% 72.3% 70.2% 2010/11 69.8% 61.1% 71.0% 69.6% 2011/12 70.3% 59.7% 71.0% 69.8% 2012/13 68.4% 54.8% 70.5% 68.1% Source: Office for Rail Regulation. National Rail Trends Portal 4
C. National Passenger Survey In Spring 2013, according to the National Passenger Survey, 82% of passengers felt satisfied with their overall journey. Passenger s level of satisfaction across different aspects of their journey: relatively low levels of satisfaction are observed for value for money and how TOCs deal with delays; relatively higher levels of passenger satisfaction are observed for the way that staff deal with requests, journey time, and information provided about train times and platforms. Table 3 (overleaf) shows national level results for the National Passenger Survey for the spring wave of the survey for the years 2000-2013. More precisely Table 3 shows the % of those surveyed who responded positively when questioned about different aspects of their journey. Since 2000 passengers have become more positive about almost all aspects of their rail travel covered in the survey. In particular large percentage point increases in satisfaction have been seen regarding information about train times/platforms and comfort of the seats. There has been little change in satisfaction on the value for money of tickets. The National Passenger Survey Passenger Focus is responsible for carrying out the National Passenger Survey (NPS) to assess levels of rail passenger satisfaction. 1 These surveys are carried out on a representative sample of passengers during their journey and assess key factors which are of importance to them. The NPS concentrate on a range of factors that are of particular importance to passengers. These have been identified as: Overall satisfaction with the journey Punctuality and reliability Frequency of trains Price/value for money of tickets Information provided at stations about train times and platforms Upkeep and repair of trains Length of journey time Number of seats and standing space available Train connections Comfort of the train seating area At-station ticket purchasing facilities Providing an appropriate environment for people to catch their train service Every six months, self-completion questionnaires are distributed at approximately 700 stations around Great Britain, at different times of the day and week. The choice of stations is made on the basis of a system related to usage. The passengers of each train operating company (TOC) are treated as a separate sample for the purposes of the survey and their results are weighted relative to the proportion of the total passenger journeys they provide for the purposes of national analysis. For the majority of TOCs, the results are based on responses from 1,000 passengers per survey. Smaller operators results are based on the views of 500 passengers whilst 2,750 passengers are surveyed for the largest operator. 5
Table 5: National Passenger Survey - national level results, Spring 2000 - Spring 2013. % saying satisfied/good 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Overall opinion of journey 76 69 72 74 73 77 80 79 80 81 83 84 83 82 How TOC deals with delays 28 27 27 30 29 31 35 32 34 35 35 36 37 38 Value for money 41 41 42 43 42 41 41 40 40 40 48 44 42 42 Station factors How staff handle requests 78 78 79 81 82 82 82 82 83 82 84 84 83 83 Overall environment 55 54 53 56 57 59 60 60 63 64 64 66 67 67 Ticket buying facilities 65 67 65 67 66 65 64 67 71 72 72 73 73 75 Information about train times/platforms 66 65 67 72 74 75 77 76 77 78 79 79 81 81 Train factors Punctuality/reliability 74 59 65 66 70 74 79 77 79 80 82 80 81 78 Length of time the journey was scheduled to take 79 71 74 77 78 79 82 81 83 83 85 85 85 84 Ease of getting on/off 67 69 69 71 71 74 77 75 76 78 80 80 80 79 Sufficient room for all passengers to sit/stand 59 61 59 59 58 61 62 59 62 66 68 67 69 67 Frequency of trains on that route 73 69 70 72 72 74 76 75 75 75 77 78 78 77 Cleanliness of the inside - - - - 56 66 71 71 70 71 71 73 75 73 Comfort of seats 55 56 55 58 57 63 68 67 66 69 70 70 72 71 Notes: The National Passenger Survey is a biennial survey w ith a survey being carried out in spring and autumn of each year. All information displayed in table 1 is taken from the spring w aves of the survey. Source: Passenger Focus National Passenger Survey, Spring 2000 - Spring 2013 6
D. Complaints In 2011/12, eleven of the nineteen TOCs answered over 95% of complaints within 20 working days. TOCs report the total number of complaints they receive from passengers. This data is presented as the number of complaints received per 100,000 passenger journeys, so as to take account of the different size of each operator s business and the number of passengers it carries. However, complaints can vary according to the type of journey passengers make. All operators must produce and comply with a procedure for answering passengers complaints. These procedures include a target time for responding in full to complaints. Target response times vary between operators. However, all operators also report the percentage of complaints answered within twenty working days for which measurement comparisons can be more easily made. Table 4: Proportion of complaints answered within 20 working days 2010/11 2011/12 Arriva Trains Wales 93% 90% c2c 99% 98% Chiltern Railways 92% 90% Cross Country 99% 99% East Coast 97% 94% East Midlands Trains 95% 99% First Capital Connect 97% 99% First Great Western 100% 100% First ScotRail 80% 99% First Transpennine Express 100% 100% Greater Anglia 100% 97% London Midland 85% 89% London Overground 93% 100% Merseyrail 83% 80% Northern 95% 94% South West Trains 99% 99% Southeastern 100% 100% Southern 97% 87% Virgin Trains 74% 57% Source: Office of Rail Regulation National Rail Trends Portal 7
E. Subsidies Government subsidy is payable in respect of socially necessary services that might not otherwise be provided. The data shown in Table 5 reflect the subsidy paid directly to TOCs. Payments (network grant) made directly to Network Rail, that would have otherwise been paid through the TOCs are not included. In 2012/13, the Government paid 793.5 million in subsidies to active TOCs; during the same period they received fees of 1,330.3 million from active TOCs, which resulted in net receipts to the government of 536.8 million. Year on year comparisons are difficult due to changes in the Network grant and franchise boundaries. Table 5. Subsidies to Train Operating Companies Active TOCs 2012/13 passenger kilometres (millions) 2012/13 subsidy ( m) 2012/13 subsidy per passenger kilometre (pence) 2011/12 subsidy per passenger kilometre (pence) Arriva Trains Wales 1,154 140.3 12.2 12.0 c2c 1,009-17.6-1.7-1.2 Chiltern 1,133 6.8 0.6 0.6 CrossCountry 3,254 20.6 0.6 0.2 East Coast 4,934-190.5-3.9-3.8 East Midlands Trains 2,252 2.3 0.1-1.8 First Capital Connect 3,638-187.3-5.1-4.7 First Great Western 5,840-169.3-2.9-1.9 First Scotrail 2,713 291.0 10.7 11.4 First Transpennine Express 1,604 41.3 2.6 5.0 Greater Anglia 4,147-139.0-3.4-2.6 London Midland 2,241 57.3 2.6 3.1 Northern Rail 2,122 151.7 7.1 4.5 South West Trains 5,778-314.7-5.4-4.0 Southeastern 4,218 82.3 2.0 2.1 Southern 4,386-215.1-4.9-0.4 Virgin Trains 5,958-96.8-1.6-2.8 Total - Active TOCs 56,381-536.8-1.0-0.4 Inactive TOCs - -1.6 - - Source: Office of Rail Regulation, National Rail Trends 8