'Best yet' figures for train operator One

REGIONAL train operator One has achieved annual average punctuality of 90% - the best performance since its franchise began nearly four years ago.

REGIONAL train operator One has achieved its best annual punctuality figure since its franchise began nearly four years ago.

One's latest Moving Annual Average (MAA) across its entire network shows that 90.1% of its services over the past year arrived at destination “on time” - within five minutes of the published arrival time for most services or within 10 minutes for Intercity services.

Mainline services between Liverpool Street and Norwich, via Ipswich and Colchester and also including the Braintree, Clacton and Harwich branches, recorded 87.9% punctuality while rural services out of Ipswich and Norwich achieved a figure of 91.9%.

Stansted Express services between Stansted Airport and Liverpool Street saw 89.2% of trains arrive on time while West Anglia services, covering other routes between Liverpool Street and Cambridge, recorded a figure of 92.8%.

Metro services, involving suburban routes to Southend and Shenfield achieved 88.3% punctuality.

The overall figure of 90.1% means that One - about to be renamed National Express East Anglia - has met the target of 90% MAA punctuality under a joint performance improvement plan launched in partnership with Network Rail last March.

One said its next challenge was to ensure that the individual figures for Mainline, Metro and Stansted Express services improved to match the 90%-plus ratings for Rural and West Anglia routes.

Andrew Chivers, managing director of One, said: “We're glad to be able to report a real improvement in punctuality over the last year up to a Moving Annual Average of 90%, fulfilling our commitment made last year and providing some of the best performance across the region ever recorded.

“We know we have more to do to deliver higher standards of performance on a more consistent basis across all our routes, but there has been real, tangible progress over the past 12 months.

“I would like to thank our employees and those in Network Rail for their work since March 2007 to provide customers with a better service. We will continue to work hard to improve punctuality still further, minimising the occasions when problems do occur and ensuring we handle those incidents more effectively.”