Press Release - Reducing passenger rail delays by better
management of incidents
14 March 2008
In 2006-07, almost 800,000 incidents caused 14 million minutes
of delay to rail journeys costing a minimum of £1 billion in terms
of time lost to passengers, according to a report released today by
the National Audit Office.
There was a sharp increase in delay minutes after the Hatfield
derailment in October 2000 and the number of rail incidents also
increased. Network Rail has succeeded in working with the Train
Operating Companies to reduce the number of incidents on the
passenger network to below the level recorded in 1999-00, whilst
the number of delay minutes is almost back down to its pre-Hatfield
level.
In 2006-07, Network Rail infrastructure faults such as problems
with the track and signal failure accounted for 42 per cent of
total delay minutes, Train Operating Companies caused 38 per cent
and external events such as weather conditions or vandalism, 20 per
cent. Resolving incidents and getting trains running again requires
cooperation between Network Rail, Train Operating Companies and in
some cases the emergency services. The NAO found that, while
Network Rail and Train Operating Companies generally had well
established procedures for managing incidents which were followed
appropriately, contingency plans were not always available or
implemented as well as they could have been.
The relationship between Network Rail and the emergency services
could be improved, with some members of the emergency services not
knowing whom they should contact at Network Rail in an emergency.
The National Audit Office recommends that national memoranda of
understanding are established between Network Rail and emergency
services. Individuals may not have received in-depth training on
how to work safely on the tracks which can lead to confusion.
Network Rail should work with the emergency services to ensure
guidance is available to all who may need it.
One third of passengers recently surveyed by Passenger Focus
were dissatisfied with the way rail incidents were dealt with and,
of those who were unhappy, 75 per cent complained of a lack of
information when they were delayed. The Association of Train
Operating Companies has issued passenger information good practice
guidelines to its members.
Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office, said
today:
“In addition to frustrating passengers, train delays
cost the economy over £1 billion year. The rail industry has made
progress in keeping trains moving, despite the rise in traffic on
the network but, when incidents happen, passengers should get
better information about what is happening. All sections of the
rail industry need to improve their incident planning to keep
trains moving quickly and safely.”
Notes for Editors:
- Network Rail is accountable for the overall performance of the
railway and has primary responsibility for managing incidents,
including those suffered by Train Operating Companies as a result
of other Train Operating Companies’ actions.
- Throughout this report we use the term “incident” to refer to
any event that can cause delay to timetabled passenger services,
such as infrastructure and train faults, and other factors such as
poor weather, fires and fatalities (which are referred to in this
report as “external” incidents). Delay minutes are measured for a
single train against its timetabled journey time between two points
where three minutes of delay or more are incurred. The 1,000 delay
minutes threshold is made up of the cumulative delay minutes for
all trains affected by an incident, for example 100 trains each
delayed by 10 minutes.
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is at www.nao.org.uk. Hard
copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702
3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Tim Burr, is the head of
the National Audit Office which employs some 850 staff. He and the
NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 17/08
All enquiries to Phil Groves, NAO Press Office: Tel: 020 7798
5339
Mobile: 07770 678 477