Train more than a minute late? From April, firms will have to report it

At the moment, a train is recorded as 'on time' if it arrives at its final destination within five minutes of the scheduled time for short-distance services, or within 10 minutes for long-distance services. But from Monday 1 April, firms will record whether a train is on time to the minute on every stop of its journey.

The firms will then publish the proportion of trains which were early, within a minute of their scheduled arrival, late or cancelled across all stops. Late trains will be broken down into those which were within three, five, 10 and 15 minutes of their timetabled arrival or after 15, 20 or 30 minutes.

Passengers can already check the punctuality of specific journeys using the My Train Journey website.

Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents rail firms, said more transparent punctuality reporting would help firms cut delays and reduce disruption.

See our Train Delays guide for more info on claiming compensation for late and cancelled trains.