LESS than a quarter of all GNER trains were running on time in the wake of the Hatfield rail disaster, new figures show.

Quarterly performance figures released by the Strategic Rail Authority reveal that the East Coast Mainline operator was among the worst hit by the ensuing disruption.

From October 15 - two days before the Hatfield rail crash - until November 11, just 23.8 per cent of GNER trains arrived on time.

That figure gradually increased over the quarter as speed restrictions imposed by Railtrack and track repair work gradually came to a halt.

The percentage of trains on time leapt from 46 to 77 per cent between mid-November and early January.

Other long distance high speed train operators also suffered badly following the derailment at Hatfield.

Both Virgin's West Coast and Cross Country operations barely hit 30 per cent punctuality during the entire period of collated figures.

Richard Branson's company, which is challenging GNER for the East Coast Mainline franchise, ranked the worst among all the train operators.

Although the general trend has been for improvements to train times, some operators have continued to struggle to raise punctuality.

David Mallender, of Great North Eastern Railways, said at its peak, the East Coast Mainline had up to 100 speed restrictions placed on it.

GNER had also struggled to cope with the autumn floods, and a landslip between London and York.

He said: "Extreme circumstances did delay trains, but at all times we were doing our best to run trains as quickly as possible."

The train operator released a new timetable earlier this month and promised more and speedier services between London and the North-East.

A spokesman for the Strategic Rail Authority said generally performance had improved from a low point during October to November.

It said train operators had introduced "robust and revised" timetables.

The North-East Rail Passengers Committee said it hoped punctuality would be back to pre-Hatfield levels as soon as possible.