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Monday 31 Jan 2005

DELAYS SLASHED AS PASSENGERS BENEFIT FROM BEST EVER NETWORK RAIL AUTUMN PERFORMANCE

Region & Route:

Network Rail today revealed that delays due to autumnal weather were reduced by a massive 42% this year.  North East and Yorkshire routes alone saw a 50% reduction in delays.  This marked improvement is the result of the extensive preparations that took place across the network to mitigate the effects of Mother Nature. Iain Coucher, Deputy Chief Executive said, “Through good, detailed planning and preparation Network Rail delivered an outstanding autumn which continues a trend that has seen some 16 months of continuous performance improvements.  Closer co-operation with the train operators has also played its part in producing the best autumnal performance for many years. My thanks go to all the people who worked very hard to make such a difference.” Performance in autumn 2004 was the best for at least the last five years with delays falling to 275,000 minutes.  This compares to 473,000 minutes for last year’s autumn and 519,000 in 2002.  In the North East and Yorkshire seasonal delays fell to 24,646 minutes compared to 49,615 minutes in 2003. The key safety indicators have also seen big reductions with a 34% improvement nationally this year compared to autumn 2003. In the North East and Yorkshire key safety indicators were reduced by 37%.