London's worst rail operators for lateness are revealed

London commuters regularly complain of severe delays on services into the capital
Hatty Collier12 March 2016

More than 800 trains from just three rail networks serving the capital were late in the space of only three months.

London's worst services for lateness were revealed as Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express after an analysis of rail industry figures.

Passengers using Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) - which operates the three services - suffered from the largest year-on-year rise in the number of significantly late trains, up by 73 per cent over the three months.

Up to nine Govia Thameslink Railway were late each day, according to an analysis of Office of Rail and Road (ORR) data.

South West Trains were the second worst rail company for late trains with an average of up to five trains delayed each day, followed by Southeastern with four.

An average of 57 trains are significantly late every day in Britain, according to the figures.

The research found that across the country, 5,250 trains were between 30 and 119 minutes late from July to September last year.

London's worst rail services for lateness

1. Govia Thameslink Railway, nine per day

2. South West Trains, five per day

3. Southeastern, four per day

4. Heathrow Express, 0.1 per day

5. London Overground, 0.4 per day

Full figures for average number of late trains per day and percentage below

The Caledonian Sleeper - which runs overnight trains between London and Scotland - was the operator with the highest percentage (3.7 per cent) of its services suffering from this level of disruption.

The second worst performance in the country overall was by First Hull Trains (2.7 per cent), followed by Virgin Trains East Coast (2.6 per cent) and Grand Central (2 per cent).

The figures do not include trains that were at least two hours late.

James MacColl, of the Campaign for Better Transport, urged train companies to make more effort to ensure passengers receive compensation when services are significantly delayed.

He said: "Late-running trains can be very frustrating, but far too few passengers understand when they're due compensation or how they should go about claiming it. With record numbers of people now relying on the railways - and technology like electronic tickets becoming more widespread - this needs to change."

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators and Network Rail, said: "Train operators and Network Rail are working hard together every day to deliver a better, more punctual railway and to give people better information when things do go wrong.

"The rail industry has cut the number of incidents causing delays every year, but a busier network means that incidents can have a greater knock-on effect."

Additional reporting by PA.

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