The punctuality of Britain's trains has improved by just 0.2% over the past year, new figures showed today.

A total of 84.5% of trains ran on time between April and June, compared with 84.3% in the same period a year ago.

The Strategic Rail Authority said 13 out of 24 train operating companies showed an improvement in performance, seven showed a decrease while four remained virtually unchanged.

The most improved companies were Midland Mainline (up 16.7%), Virgin CrossCountry (up 10.1%), First Great Western (up 6.9%), c2c (up 6.7%) and First Great Western Link (up 5.3%).

The seven operators where punctuality worsened included Gatwick Express (down 5.7%), Silverlink (down 5.1%) and Southern (down 2.8%).

Great North Eastern Railway, Island Line, Merseyrail and South West Trains remained virtually unchanged.

Nicola Shaw, the SRA's managing director of operations, said: ''The industry is trying. There are signs that where the effort has been greatest it is succeeding, but it is not yet universal or consistent.

''That level of effort is required all the way through everything we do, throughout the industry, so that passengers experience the results of those efforts. Success will come when they experience it day in and day out.''

The amount of freight moved by rail increased by 8.1% over the same period.

The number of complaints from passengers fell by 10% and by more than 40% in London and the South East.