§ Mr. NichollsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his latest assessment of the railway industry's performance in 1996–97. [14130]
§ Sir George YoungThe railway industry's recent performance has been particularly good. For example, in the last four months, levels of punctuality and reliability have been higher than for the same period in any previous year since data for British Rail's passenger charter began to be collected in 1991–92. On average, 91.8 per cent. of trains arrived within five to 10 minutes of their schedules arrival time and 99.1 per cent. of scheduled services ran. These high levels of performance reflect the success of the new performance regimes, which give all parties direct financial incentives to ensure that services run to time. The franchising director is consequently making payments to the train operating companies for their improved performance. These payments are reflected in the additional provision for passenger rail services included in the proposals I have announced today for changing my Department's cash limits and running costs limit for 1996–97.