UK - Costly Train Delays

[John Ashworth]

Watchdogs Snap At Costly Train Delays
Updated:06:01, Friday March 14, 2008

Time lost waiting for delayed or cancelled trains has cost rail passengers around £1bn, according to watchdogs.

The National Audit Office said nearly 800,000 incidents during 2006/07 caused 14 million minutes of delay to rail journeys.

The office said, although train companies and Network Rail generally had good procedures for managing incidents, their "contingency plans" were not always available or well implemented.

NAO head Tim Burr said: "In addition to frustrating passengers, train delays cost the economy over £1bn 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."

The watchdog said there were shortcomings in the way passengers are handled and kept informed when incidents do occur.

It also found there could be better liaison between the train companies and emergency services to resolves more minor situations earlier.

Edward Leigh MP, chairman of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, said: "There is nothing more infuriating than being stuck on a train or a platform with no information about the cause of delay and how long it will take to resolve."

He said some delays were inevitable due to bad weather, stock failures or trespassers on the track but passengers still had a right to expect delays to be kept to a minimum.

"It does not help the situation when individual emergency services staff are not aware, when taking decisions at the scene of an incident, of the knock-on effects on passengers elsewhere on the line," he added.

"NR must communicate better with the emergency services."

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