Report makes grim reading for local rail users

South West still the least punctual whilst Silverlink's North London Line is the most crowded

Long suffering users of South West Trains continue to get the least punctual service in London according to new figures released today by the Strategic Rail Authority. Passengers on the North London Line operated by Silverlink do get more trains running on time but the report reveals that this is the most over crowded line on London's most overcrowded network.

South West Trains do manage to do slightly better than one other operator at peak times but across the whole day only 72% of trains are arriving within 5 minutes of their schedule.

The report also reveals that Silverlink has become the most crowded commuter network in London operating at 7% over capacity against the SRA's recommended threshold of 3% South West Trains operates at 2.7% over capacity.

The high crowding levels recorded by Silverlink reflect the increasing usage of the North London Line between North Woolwich and Richmond, and the difficulties in providing an enhanced service on this route. Passenger numbers have grown by over 50% in the last six years. The over capacity operation on this line alone reached 20%. Since these figures were recorded additional peak services, funded by the SRA, have commenced.

Passenger Rail Performance

  Jan-Mar
2002
Apr-Jun
2002

Jul-Sep
2002

Oct-Dec
2002

Jan-Mar
2003

Year to Mar 2003
London and South East All Day
Great Eastern Railway 91.3 90.6 89.6 84.9 87.8 88.4
Chiltern Railways 89.6 89.8 88.0 84.2 90.7 88.4
c2c 88.9 88.1 84.4 81.7 91.2 86.3
Silverlink 86.5 86.0 85.5 81.5 84.1 83.9
Connex South Eastern 84.0 84.7 84.1 71.2 79.7 80.1
Thames Trains 84.5 84.1 79.9 73.3 79.2 79.2
WAGN 75.0 79.8 82.7 72.7 80.5 78.7
Connex South Central 81.1 84.8 81.7 66.5 75.9 77.2
Thameslink 75.7 80.8 75.8 64.3 72.1 73.1
South West Trains 71.2 75.1 75.9 65.4 72.0 72.0
London and South East Peak
Chiltern Railways 85.3 89.3 88.1 79.8 87.7 86.0
c2c 88.1 87.2 83.9 81.7 89.5 85.5
Great Eastern Railway 88.3 87.0 89.4 79.3 82.5 84.7
Silverlink 82.4 81.4 81.9 81.1 85.5 82.4
Connex South Eastern 80.2 81.9 84.4 62.5 71.4 75.3
Connex South Central 80.2 83.2 83.1 60.2 72.4 74.6
Thames Trains 79.7 79.7 76.4 65.0 69.3 72.7
WAGN 52.2 73.6 78.8 63.6 72.6 72.1
South West Trains 66.7 75.5 79.5 62.9 67.5 71.1
Thameslink 69.6 79.4 74.4 57.7 65.0 69.3


Note London & South East and Other Operators show % arriving within 5 minutes of timetabled time.

Source: Strategic Rail Authority, March 2003

June 16, 2003

South West Trains