Frustrated rail passengers will be able to check up on how well their local train company is performing through data available at each station across the country.
Transport secretary Louise Haigh has announced the measure in a bid to open up transparency over delays and cancellations on the rail network in England.
In a Commons statement, she told MPs: “We have to be clear-eyed about the problems. But we are committed to full transparency.
“And I can announce today that we will be fully transparent with passengers by displaying performance data at stations to show demonstrate how the railway is working and allow the public to hold us to account as we deliver change.”
According to the Office of Rail and Road only 70.1 per cent of the 1.8 million planned train journeys were on time in the months from April to June this year down 0.6 per cent on the corresponding quarter last year. Meanwhile, 3.5 per cent of services were cancelled, up 0.2 per cent.
Ms Haigh has been described as the “socialist champion” in Keir Starmer’s government for driving through rail nationalisation plans as well as allowing bus routes to go back into public ownership.
While legislation is still going through on rail nationalisation the process will take time with the new Great British Rail taking ownership of lines when franchise agreements come to an end.
However, Ms Haigh has made it clear that part of her drive to improve service quality in her self-proclaimed role as “passenger-in-chief” is to improve service data on the network and make it easily available to passengers.
Describing what comes next, she said: “A promise to passengers from the moment they buy a ticket, that the train will arrive on time, as the timetable says.
“And whilst there are encouraging signs, I am not naïve to the reality that passengers will only see a broken promise so long as the departure board shows trains delayed and services cancelled.
“That’s why I’ve approached the situation with the urgency it demands. Focusing on performance today, meeting with industry to make clear that improvements which can be made now, must be made now, and using every tool at our disposal to drive improvements as fast as possible.”
She also noted that since Aslef got round the table on 29 August there have been zero cancellations on LNER compared to 179.5 between 21 July and that date.
