Britain’s railway saw record punctuality in August with 94.2% of trains running on time. One train operator, c2c, recorded almost 99% of services on time – the best monthly performance ever recorded on Britain’s railway.

The operator, which runs services between London Fenchurch Street, Southend and Shoeburyness, saw 98.8% of services arrive at their destination on time in August. The region’s other main train operator, National Express East Anglia, recorded 93.4% of services on time. The main causes of delay to National Express East Anglia services were a serious lineside fire at Romford (believed to have been started by a discarded cigarette) and a fatality at Enfield Lock.

The figures were released today in Network Rail’s regular monthly report on train performance.  During the period from 25 July to 21 August, 94.2% of services arrived on time.  This compares to 94.0% in same period last year.

Andrew Munden, Network Rail route director for Anglia, said: “August has been an excellent month for delivering a high quality punctual service to the million of passengers and freight users who rely on train services every day across the country.

“The record-breaking performance of c2c, with an unprecedented 99% of services arriving on time, is testament to the hard work of both Network Rail and c2c staff who work as a team to deliver the country’s most punctual rail service for passengers. Despite these excellent results we are not complacent and will continue to look for new ways to drive performance up further still.”

Julian Drury, managing director of c2c, said: “I am delighted that c2c continues to set the standards for the rail industry in achieving another record for UK train punctuality. I am proud of everyone at c2c for their record breaking efforts and for the support of our colleagues at Network Rail in helping to consistently achieve such high levels of train service performance.”