TRAIN PERFORMANCE GETTING BETTER BUT SOUTH WEST STILL THE WORST

The latest official figures show an improvement from the dismal performance of local train services at the end of last year with Silver Link performing relatively well but South West Trains still bottom of the punctuality league.

Both South West Trains and Silver Link still exceed the Strategic Rail Authority's Overcrowding Thresholds despite the better reliability in the latest quarter, two of only four London operators to do so.

SRA Chief Operating Officer, Nick Newton said: "These figures are good news, and much credit must be given to those in the industry who have co-operated to make improvements. There is still much to be done to consistently achieve the levels of performance passengers have a right to expect."

The number of passengers travelling into London during peak hours grew marginally last year, according to the SRA's annual survey. The total number of peak passengers travelling into London was 471,388, up on the previous year's figure of 466,920.

The quality of the service from South West Trains led to a threat from Stephen Byers that they could lose their franchise, although a day later he lost his job.

Passenger Rail Performance