Network Rail has been hit with a £53M fine by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) for failing to meet agreed targets over the last financial year, which include train punctuality.

According to Network Rail the poor performance is due in part to failures to tackle infrastructure faults more quickly.

ORR recommends that Network Rail must do more to 'predict and prevent' problems before they create disruption for passengers. The regulator has introduced new targets to ensure the operator strengthens its asset management and delivers its plans.

The regulator said this week that the rail operator delivered average punctuality levels of 86.9% for long distance travellers in 2013-14 – more than 5% short of the 92% target it had committed to.

In the South East region Network Rail only managed to achieve 89.6% punctuality in 2013-14, against a target of 93%.

As a result the company has now committed extra funds to improve the resilience of the rail network in the region.

Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne said: “We accept that we have fallen short of the regulatory targets for train punctuality and that this is, in part, down to our failure to reduce infrastructure faults quickly enough.

“I am confident that by the end of this control period we will meet and indeed exceed the regulatory performance targets,” he added.

ORR's analysis also identified a number of successes for Network Rail over the past five years, including 98 out of 118 projects delivered early or on time, improved safety at levels crossings and quick, effective recovery work following challenging weather conditions.

Photo of Waterloo Station: JaredP

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