Mr Bowker said:

"There are examples of improvement in these figures which are, of course, welcome. However, certain areas needed attention and they have got it in the form of our timetable changes. Train Operating Companies and Network Rail were partners in this decision-making, supporting the need to put performance first - this is about making the Case for Rail, not the case for cuts. The Railway has to get better before it gets bigger and these timetable changes are just part of an action plan to improve performance."

Key results in National Rail Trends, published today and covering the quarter ending December 2002, include:

1.Year on Year

National year on year figures show a gradual performance improvement to 72.6% of trains on time (October to December 2002) compared with 71.3% (October to December 2001). London & SE operators' performance improved by 2.6 percentage points year on year, with 71.9% of trains running on time (October to December 2002) compared with 69.3% (October to December 2001). The improvement in performance of London & SE operators' peak services year on year, was significantly better than the improvement in all-day figures, with trains running on time rising by 5.4 percentage points to 66.2% (October to December 2002) compared with 60.8% (October to December 2001). South West Trains improved year on year with a peak timetable gain of 8.5 percentage points (from 54.4% to 62.9% of trains on time). Freight moved decreased by 4% year on year and freight lifted decreased by 8%. Complaints (per 100,000 passengers) increased by 28% year on year. Allowing for inflation (RPI), the overall average change in the price of rail fares between January 2002 and January 2003 was + 0.2%. Over the same period, the average change in the price of standard class fares allowing for inflation was - 0.1%.

2.Quarter on Quarter

National quarter on quarter figures show a performance decrease with 72.6% of trains on time (October to December 2002) compared with 80.8% (July to September 2002). Freight moved decreased by 3% from the previous quarter, but freight lifted increased by 2% on the previous quarter. Complaints (per 100,000) increased by 10% in comparison with the last quarter.

Additional results in National Rail Trends covering the quarter ending December 2002 follow:

Public Performance Measure (PPM)

Year on year, performance across the network as a whole improved to 72.6% of trains on time compared to 71.3%. London & SE operators improved by 2.6 percentage points from 69.3% to 71.9% of trains on time.

The improvement in performance of London & SE operators' peak services year on year, was significantly better than the improvement in all-day figures, with trains on time rising by 5.4 percentage points from 60.8% to 66.2%. Regional operators increased from 74.1% to 74.7% of trains on time, whilst long distance operators showed a fall from 68.1% to 61.2%. Timetabled Train Kilometres

This measure increased by 2.3% compared to the corresponding quarter last year and by 1.7% on the previous quarter.

Passenger Kilometres

Compared with the same quarter last year, passenger kilometres remained virtually unchanged, while passenger journeys decreased by 1%. Seasonally adjusted passenger kilometres increased by 3% on the previous quarter and seasonally adjusted passenger journeys increased by 1%.