Trains companies will face fines for delays of even one minute

Future rail franchises will include rules that will impose penalties or dock funding from operators when their trains arrive even one minute late, the Times reported.

Currently, trains can arrive 10 minutes after their scheduled arrival time and not be officially classed as late.

Fines could also be levied on infrastructure operator Network Rail if it fails to ensure that sufficient numbers of trains reach stations within a minute of their scheduled arrival.

The new franchise rules will be brought in within three years, the newspaper said.

Figures out in March showed UK trains were running later than at any time in the past decade ten years, though commuters will surely have collectively groaned as operators rolled out their classic excuses of staff shortages and bad weather.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) regulator said that more than 10.9% of trains failed to arrive at its destination on time in the 12 months to the end of the March.

The 10 worst performing operators were led by Go-Ahead Group's majority owned Govia Thameslink Railway, with only 81.5% of trains on time; its Southeastern franchise the fourth worst, with 86%; and its London Midland sixth with 88.1%.

Stagecoach's 90%-owned Virgin Train East Coast, with 85.2%, was the second worst, with its South West Trains franchise in 10th place with 90.1% on time.

Serco's Caledonian Sleeper third, with 86%.

FirstGroup's TransPennine Express was fifth, with 87.8%; and its Great Western Railway was ninth worst with 89.5% on time.

Seventh was Abellio's Greater Anglia and eighth was Deutsche Bahn subsidiary Arriva's CrossCountry.

Great