Headline results:

• Quarterly performance figures show that 84.2% of trains ran on time (April to June 2003), up from 83.0% during the same period last year. 17 train operating companies showed an improvement in performance over this period
• Passenger kilometres increased by 2% between April to June 2002 and April to June 2003. Passenger journeys increased by 1% over the same period
• The number of complaints per 100,000 journeys increased by 6% between April to June 2002 and April to June 2003
• Freight moved decreased by 3% (April to June 2003) compared to the same quarter last year
• Long distance operators showed the lowest performance figures (74.5% in April to June 2003) and the only decrease in performance at a sector level
• For the first time, this edition includes Freight Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which provide a more comprehensive picture of the level of freight activity and performance, including rail market share, impacts on road haulage and investment in freight rolling stock

"Passengers can be pleased that performance is moving gradually in the right direction but of course it's not enough. The timetable changes that we have made for the forthcoming winter timetable are intended to continue the upward trend." "The rise in complaints figures highlight the concerns passengers have about issues such as cleanliness and information - these are exactly the areas that our new franchising policy will address."

"We are particularly concerned about the punctuality of long distance operators. Whilst the train operators have much to improve, infrastructure performance is of considerable concern and Network Rail must improve the current unacceptable levels."

Some of the key findings in the report are:

Public Performance Measure (PPM)

Comparing April to June 2003 to April to June 2002, figures show an increase in performance to 84.2% trains on time compared with 83.0% last year. Compared to the same period last year, 17 train operating companies show an improvement notably: WAGN (up 7 percentage points), Arriva Trains Merseyside (up 6 percentage points), Anglia Locals (up 6 percentage points) and GNER (up 6 percentage points), and 9 operators show a decrease in performance, notably Midland Mainline (down 15 percentage points).

Long distance operators showed the lowest performance figures at a sector level, down from 76.3% April to June 2002 to 74.5% April to June 2003. London and South East Operators (All day) showed an increase of 1% in performance from last year: 83.1 % April to June 2002 compared to 83.9% for April to June 2003, and Regional Operators showed an increase from 83.6% during April to June 2002 to 85.7% during April to June 2003.

A table detailing the performance for all of the operators can be found behind this release.

Rail usage

Passenger kilometres increased by 2% between April to June 2002 and April to June 2003. Passenger journeys increased by 1% over the same period.

Complaints

The number of complaints per 100,000 journeys increased by 6% between April to June 2002 and April to June 2003.

Freight

Freight moved (measured in net tonne kilometres) decreased by 3% between April to June 2002 and April to June 2003. Total freight lifted, which accounts for weight but not distance moved, remained virtually unchanged over the same period.

Freight moved on rail was equivalent to 5.6 million lorry journeys in from April 2002 to March 2003.

The rail market share of surface based transport (rail and HGVs) was 11.2% from April 2002 to March 2003, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the previous year.

The rail freight private sector has invested £803m in rolling stock since privatisation.

Notes to Editors:

1. National Rail Trends covers the period April 2003 to June 2003

It provides trend data on a range of industry-wide indicators including key figures on rail and freight usage and fares index.

2. Earlier editions on National Rail Trends are available on the SRA website www.sra.gov.uk(under 'publications').

3. Quarterly figures are based on the following periods:

Quarter 1 - April to June
Quarter 2 - July to September
Quarter 3 - October to December
Quarter 4 - January to March
SRA Press Office 020 7654 6339/6387/6862/6234

National Rail Trends

	2003-04Q1	2002-03Q1	Year to 30 June2003	Year to 31 March2003
Long Distance operators
Anglia (InterCity)	81.9	82.0	77.3	77.3
First Great Western	74.4	76.6	71.3	71.9
Great North Eastern Railway	78.3	72.0	72.4	70.8
Midland Mainline	68.8	83.5	69.9	73.6
Virgin West Coast	78.2	77.4	73.7	73.5
Virgin CrossCountry	70.2	68.5	62.5	61.7
Sector Level	74.5	76.3	70.2	70.6
London and SE operators All day
c2c	87.3	88.1	86.1	86.3
Chiltern Railways	91.0	89.8	88.7	88.4
Connex South Eastern	84.1	84.7	79.9	80.1
First Great Eastern	92.1	90.6	88.7	88.4
Silverlink	87.7	86.0	84.4	83.9
South Central	84.5	84.8	77.1	77.2
South West Trains	77.9	75.1	72.7	72.0
Thames Trains	79.0	84.1	78.0	79.2
Thameslink	79.2	80.8	72.6	73.1
West Anglia Great Northern	86.5	79.8	80.5	78.7
Sector Level	83.9	83.1	79.2	79.0
London and SE operators Peak
c2c	87.2	87.2	85.5	85.5
Chiltern Railways	89.7	89.3	86.1	86.0
Connex South Eastern	80.9	81.9	75.0	75.3
First Great Eastern	90.7	87.0	85.6	84.7
Silverlink	92.9	81.4	85.3	82.4
South Central	84.7	83.2	75.0	74.6
South West Trains	78.4	75.5	71.9	71.1
Thames Trains	74.9	79.7	71.5	72.1
Thameslink	76.5	79.4	68.1	69.3
West Anglia Great Northern	84.1	73.6	74.6	72.1
Sector Level	83.1	80.7	76.3	75.7
Regional operators
Anglia Locals	90.7	84.7	85.5	84.0
Arriva Trains Merseyside	94.6	88.4	93.0	91.5
Arriva Trains Northern	87.0	83.8	81.3	80.4
Central Trains	76.2	77.7	70.2	70.6
First North Western	85.7	83.0	81.3	80.6
Gatwick Express	88.0	87.0	82.5	82.1
Island Line	97.6	96.7	97.0	96.8
ScotRail	87.2	85.9	82.6	82.1
Wales & Borders Trains	84.5	82.8	80.4	79.9
Wessex Trains	85.1	83.7	81.5	81.1
Sector Level	85.7	83.6	81.1	80.5
National Level	84.2	83.0	79.5	79.2