RAIL firm Virgin Cross Country has launched a defence of its North-East services following criticism of its performance in recent surveys.

The company has already been named by the Strategic Rail Authority as the worst performing of any operator, only running 67.8 per cent of its trains on time during the first three months of this year.

It also wrote off 49 days as void in the 12 months to the end of March because of cancellations and delays.

But Virgin claims modifications to its timetable to improve punctuality and reliability are starting to pay off and also says some of the problems it has suffered have been out of its hands.

North-East regional manager Colin Harris, speaking at a meeting of the Rail Passengers' Committee yesterday, in Newcastle, said its new Voyager trains and new services introduced last October had "taken time to bed in".

He said: "Since January, performance figures have been heading in the right direction. One of the problems is that we are not always in control of our own destiny and when you are operating trains from Aberdeen to Penzance, and cutting across the network, it is sometimes very difficult to maintain your booked path for whatever reason."

Mr Harris added: "A few minutes lost around the Midlands can have a considerable detrimental effect on our punctuality and we are looking at how we can claw back some of this lost time."

In the past four weeks, 73.4 per cent of Virgin Cross Country trains were on time.

A customer satisfaction survey conducted between February and April this year showed 67 per cent of its passengers were happy with the company's ability to provide on-time services.