PUNCTUALITY on the region’s railways has seen a small decline, according to the latest figures.

Overall punctuality for Greater Anglia from March 4 to March 31 was 91.8%, compared to 92% in the same time period last year, Network Rail said.

Nationally, it was 93.4%, compared with 92.9% in 2011.

Vice chairman of the Manningtree Rail Users’ Group, Derek Monnery, said: “I am encouraged that it hasn’t gone down anyv more than that but I’d like to see a steady improvement. Rail fares have gone up recently so I had hoped punctuality would have been better.”

Secretary of East Suffolk Travellers Association, Rod Lock, said: “It’s not a drastic decline. Punctuality figures tend to go up and down. It’s all about attention to detail.

“For a train to run on time 100 things have to work but for it to be delayed, only one thing has to go wrong.”

A spokeswoman from Greater Anglia said: “The latest overall punctuality figures for Greater Anglia show a positive improvement on the previous period, with generally good performance for most of the four weeks under review.

“In fact the performance results for the inter-city services between Suffolk and London were at their highest levels for almost two years. We are working closely with Network Rail to build on this progress.”