TRAIN punctuality has reached a record high with more than nine out of ten running on time.

In the four weeks to the middle of this month, the overall national punctuality figure was 94 per cent – 1.5 per cent better than the same time last year and the highest figure recorded for the period, said Network Rail.

East Coast, the nationalised operator of the main line to London and Scotland, upped its performance from 86.8 per cent to 93.3 per cent.

Northern Rail rose from 92.8 per cent to 92.9 per cent, Crosscountry from 90 per cent to 91.3 per cent and First Transpennine Express increased to 95.2 per cent from 92.8 per cent.

Trains are punctual if they arrive within five minutes for commuter services and within ten minutes for long-distance trains.

Regional train company c2c, which runs rail services for London, Tilbury and Southend, was the best performing franchise-holding firm in the country with 98.7 per cent.

An East Coast spokesman said: “We are very much encouraged by this positive result – the best achieved on the East Coast route since current performance recording methods were adopted across the rail industry 13 years ago in 1999. This outstanding performance was delivered at the same time as East Coast was operating additional early morning and late evening services for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. These ran smoothly and, just as we saw during the Olympic Games, many new passengers were attracted to our trains for the first time.”

A Northern Rail spokeswoman said: “We are encouraged to see this increase, as although small, we have worked hard for our passengers and significantly improved rail performance during this franchise.”

Anthony Smith, chief executive of watchdog Passenger Focus, said: “Passengers tell us that late trains can disrupt their whole day – so this improvement in punctuality is welcome. It’s also good to see that the ‘right-time’ figures have been made available as they give a more accurate picture of the passenger experience, measuring trains arriving within 59 seconds of schedule rather than five or ten minutes.”

East Coast was praised for paying 15 times more in refunds for delayed trains than private operators.