https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47664969
It sounds like a new performance measure statistic is being created, with the aim being to provide a more accurate picture than the existing PPM measure.
But will it result in more padded timetables? I hope not.
Here is a copy of an email sent from Steve White, the CEO of GTR .A more exacting standard for punctuality will be brought in on UK railways next month in an attempt to improve performance.
From 1 April, train times will be recorded to the minute at every stop.
This is against the current measure which deems a train to be "on time" if it reaches its final destination within five minutes of the timetable, or 10 minutes for a long distance.
Punctuality information will let passengers get a more accurate picture of exactly how good their service is.
Train firms will publish a spread of information about their services, such as how many were early, within a minute of the timetable or within three, five, 10 or 15 minutes.
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The website for it is here: www.mytrainjourney.co.ukSteve White said:From 1 April – the whole rail industry will start to track and measure train performance using a new system called ‘On Time’.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) is announcing it publicly tomorrow, and I wanted to let you know first.
Rail companies, working in partnership with Transport Focus, have chosen to measure punctuality in this new way because it’s a more open and honest approach and will win us back some of the trust we’ve lost from our customers.
As you know, currently, we say a train is punctual if it arrives at its final destination within five minutes of the scheduled time – this is called the Public Performance Measure (PPM). But to our customers, the train has actually arrived late and they may have missed their connection. While in period 12 (ending 2 March) we recorded a PPM of 87.3%, which is the best for four and a half years. We know we can even do better.
On Time will track a train’s punctuality at every station on its route – and to be ‘on time’, a train must be within 59 seconds of its scheduled arrival time at each recorded station. This is clearer for our customers and will help us to rebuild their trust. What’s more, it will give us detailed information to help us pinpoint and tackle the small delays so we can become more punctual.
From now on, every second counts if we’re to run services on time. So we all need to do things differently. We’ve already started work on this with our PitStop approach and training to respond to a person ill on a train.
We’ve also started to talk to our drivers, station and signaller colleagues to dig deeper into what causes delays so we can do something about it. And groups of colleagues from across the business are looking into how we can improve punctuality in their individual areas of the business.
From 1 April we’ll publish On Time stats alongside our current Public Performance Measure (PPM). GTR will also run a customer campaign around the same time, so they know what part they play in helping trains to run on time.
On Time is being run in the business by Network Operations Director George McInulty. George and his team will keep you posted on everything you’ll need to know over the next few months. In the meantime, you might find answers to your queries in our On Time FAQs.
Finally, I want to be clear our main priority is to operate a safe railway. We’ll run our railway on time without compromising safety.
Our ambition is to deliver a safer, bigger and better railway together and our On Time Railway programme will help us to achieve this.
Thank you.
It sounds like a new performance measure statistic is being created, with the aim being to provide a more accurate picture than the existing PPM measure.
But will it result in more padded timetables? I hope not.