The train now arriving... is the latest it's been for a decade

Punctuality on Britain's rail network has reached its lowest point in over a decade.
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More than one in 10 trains failed to reach their destinations on time last year, according to the Office of Rail and Road.

This is the worst performance for a 12-month period since the year ending September 2006, when the figure reached 12.5 per cent.

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The rail industry counts trains as being on time if they arrive at their final stop within five minutes of their schedule for commuter services and within 10 minutes for long distance routes.

Without the “window of adjustment”, the number of late arrivals is much higher - with an average of one in four Northern services in Yorkshire failing to hit their schedule last month.

Lianna Etkind, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said the figures proved that train firms were “still delivering a very lacklustre service” despite “sky-high prices”.

Passengers using Govia Thameslink Railway - which also owns the strike-hit Southern operator - suffered the most, with more than a quarter of services not arriving on time.

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Separate figures show 3.8 per cent of trains across Britain were cancelled or at least half an hour late last year, the highest average since September 2003. Northern Rail cancelled 1.036 services in the four weeks from January 4 alone.

Ms Etkind said: “It’s time that the Government got a grip of the situation and starts to give passengers what they want: an affordable and reliable rail service.

“They should begin by ensuring that rail contracts give stronger incentives for punctuality, reliability and passenger service, as has successfully happened on London Overground and Merseyrail, and channel investment into those worn-out parts of the network which cause delays.”

The latest National Rail Passenger Survey by Transport Focus last autumn revealed that just 81 per cent of passengers were satisfied with Britain’s railways, a figure which has not been lower since spring 2007.

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Meanwhile, fares increased by an average of 2.3 per cent last month, leading to protests at railway stations.

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said: “At the moment, on some parts of the railway passengers are not getting the service they expect but on other parts punctuality is at a record high.”

The group blamed a combination of congestion on the network, prolonged strike action in the south and “disruption during major upgrades”.