RAIL travel in the region came under further attack from watchdogs yesterday after a survey highlighted growing concern within the industry over punctuality and reliability.

Research carried out by management consultants Cap Gemini Ernst & Young found that the majority of rail company leaders believe that considerable improvements need to be made to punctuality, reliability, and the standard of stations, if the industry is to survive.

One unnamed director of a train operating company went as far as to claim that unless punctuality and reliability were improved, the rail industry will be "dead in the water".

Results of the survey, announced yesterday at a Future of UK Rail conference in London, brought a renewed call from industry watchdogs in the region for more money to be spent on rail services.

Fran Critchley, of the Rail Passenger Committee North-East, said that millions of pounds needed to be spent to bring the region's rail network anywhere near satisfactory.

She said: "Performance records for the region's train companies are absolutely abysmal. That is nothing new, and they have been largely because of Hatfield, the flooding, and major work on Leeds train station.

"However, despite the standard of service, which has simply got to improve, people are still voting with their feet and more people are using trains than before privatisation."

The national survey found that 79 per cent of rail service managers thought punctuality, reliability and stations needed improvement, while 71 per cent felt trains and the on-board experience should be improved.

The research also revealed that 73 per cent felt strong leadership was the way forward, and 67 per cent said this leadership should come from the Strategic Rail Authority.

The survey also revealed that some industry leaders felt it was more profitable to cancel trains than to run them late.

Ms Critchley said: "The bigger companies, like GNER and Virgin, are making profits, but the smaller regional companies are not, and they are struggling.

"In many cases, providers would rather cancel a service, or pay a fine, than face the costs of losing extra rolling stock."