The
rail
regulator


is
telling
the
industry
that
it
can
no
longer
leave
out
cancellations
from
official
statistics
when
the
decision
not
to
run
a
train
is
made
no
later
than
the
night
before.

Such
trains
have
been
known
as
‘P*-coded’,
which
stands
for
‘pre-cancelled’.
They
are
significant
because
such
cancellations
are
not
included
in
the
official
statistics.

The
Office
of
Rail
and
Road
has
highlighted
TransPennine
Express,
where
the
cancellation
total
increased
from
7.2
per
cent
to
23.8
per
cent
when
P*-coded
trains
cancelled
because
train
crew
were
not
available
were
included.

The
ORR
said
that
between
5
February
and
4
March
TPE
had
fully
‘pre-cancelled’
1,093
trains,
and
‘part
pre-cancelled’
another
532.

Northern
and
ScotRail
also
reported
‘significant
numbers
of
full
pre-cancelled
services’
caused
by
a
shortage
of 
train
crew,
losing
380
and
159
trains
respectively.
Transport
for
Wales
recorded
98
full
and
159
part
pre-cancellations
because
rolling
stock
was
not
available.

Another
four
of
the
24
British
train
companies,
including
three
open-access
operators,
also
reported
P*-coded
cancellations
and
are
included
in
the
statistics
published
today.

The
regulator
has
now
instructed
the
rail
industry
to
change
how
it
records
‘pre-cancellations’
and
to
introduce
a
clearer
way
of
working
when
making
late
changes
to
services.

A
suitable
plan
has
yet
to
be
introduced,
and
until
the
practice
ceases,
the
ORR
said
it
‘will
continue
to
publish
this
data
to
ensure
full
transparency’.

The
ORR’s
director,
planning
and
performance,
Feras
Alshaker
said:
‘Until
we
are
satisfied
that
official
statistics
reflect
passenger
experiences,
we
will
make
sure
that
information
on
service
reliability
is
available
for
passengers
and
stakeholders.
We
acknowledge
that
ongoing
strike
action
has
led
to
a
refocusing
of
resources
elsewhere,
but
this
should
not
deflect
from
the
fact
that
this
needs
to
be
sorted
as
a
matter
of
urgency.

‘We’ll
continue
to
publish
pre-cancellation
data
until
we’re
satisfied
and
should
we
not
have
a
satisfactory
plan
from
industry
by
the
end
of
April,
we
will
consider
imposing
a
change
in
the
way
these
services
are
recorded.’

As
a
result
of
the
inclusion
of
“P*-coded”
pre-cancellations,
the
national
cancellations
score
increased
by
0.4
percentage
points
in
the
latest
period,
to
3.3
per
cent.