Train companies 'getting off lightly'

Authorities need to clamp down on overcrowded trains

The limited power of Britain's rail authorities is preventing the drive to make train companies improve their services, says a report.

Findings from the National Audit Office (NAO) show that penalties for poor performance are too low, and the monitoring of overcrowding on trains is unreliable.

The NAO's report says improvements are being hampered a series of weaknesses in the powers provided when the railways were first privatised.

It says the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority (SSRA) must ensure it has stronger powers under future franchise deals to deliver the improvements passengers want.

Running late

The report says the SSRA is unable to take action to force companies to improve punctuality.

Fines for trains which run late or have too few carriages are too small to be effective, it says.

Some companies have even run very late trains in order not to breach their cancellation targets, therefore delaying other services.

Despite overcrowding being a continuing problem, the report reveals how passenger counts remain infrequent, expensive and unreliable.

Some of the statistics detailed in the report by the NAO, which is the government spending watchdog, include:

• It costs more to travel by train in London and South East England than anywhere else in Britain.

• In recent years, train capacity on the railways has risen between 7% and 12%, but passenger numbers have grown by 24%.

• In 1999, Connex South Central, South West Trains, Thames Trains and West Anglia Great Northern all recorded average overcrowding in excess of 10% on some routes.

• Twenty-two of the 25 train companies have increased their number of services since privatisation.

• In 1999-2000, the greatest single cause of delay to services was breakdowns and slow running due to poor rolling stock.

Research recently conducted by the SSRA itself shows that many rail companies are not delivering 'value for money'.

In June, it published statistics about rail company punctuality and reliability, combining them for the first time into a performance rating spanning all services on all days.

Of the 2000 passengers polled in March about the journey they had taken that day, the survey showed that only 41% thought they were getting value for money.