The Department for Transport (DfT) is lauding what it calls a “new era of rail accountability” in England as data on train service performance ‘goes live’ at over 1,700 stations from today (Thursday 6 March).

The data on display at the stations is given separately for each train operating company. It shows the percentage of trains that have been cancelled, together with statistics on how punctual trains are at each station.

This is the first time that the railway industry has made this data available at the level of individual stations. It is now in place at all major stations, through digital screens where possible.

It is also available at most smaller stations via a QR code, which passengers who have a device with the appropriate functionality can scan to see the data online.

The DfT believes that this fulfils a commitment that it made to be fully transparent with passengers, to show how the railways are working, and to allow the public to hold train operators to account.

Its introduction is taking place alongside the gradual return of train operating companies to public ownership.

The Department also believes that this new system will deliver more reliable, better-quality services. In addition, it predicts that it will “catalyse economic growth through improved connectivity, delivering on the government’s Plan for Change”.

Its prediction is based on the assumption that making this data available will encourage operators to increase “efficiency” and “productivity”, although these are not the same as reliability and punctuality.

The Department expects that this will provide better value for money for passengers and pursue the government’s growth mission by delivering better connectivity.

The government states that it “is determined to drive up performance”. It points out that the Rail Minister is meeting with all train operators to “address concerns and demand immediate action”.

The rail industry has responded by setting out a framework which identifies areas to focus on.

These include making timetables more resilient to disruption and organising staffing that enables the railway to recover performance to levels that are considered acceptable.

Today, Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander will visit Reading station to launch the displays.

The data for each station will also be available on the Office for Rail and Road (ORR)’s new data portal. This contains punctuality and reliability information for every station in Great Britain. The online data is compatible with screen readers, which some people use for accessibility reasons.

The screens also display a small amount of information on work that is being carried out by Network Rail and the train operators to improve performance.

The Department of Transport says that the introduction of the data screens forms part of a wider overhaul of the railways.

This overhaul will set up Great British Railways (GBR), a new body which will bring track and train together, which will end what it describes as “years of fragmentation and waste”.

It says that GBR “will relentlessly focus on driving up standards for passengers”. The government is currently consulting about proposals for how GBR will run, including plans for a new passenger standards watchdog.

Separately, the government says that its “landmark” Public Ownership Act will improve services and save taxpayers up to £150m a year. This is money that was previously given to private shareholders. The first services will be brought into public ownership in May 2025.

The government says that it “will deliver change that can be felt, driving growth across the country by ensuring passengers can use the railways to get to work, school, appointments and see friends and family with ease.”

“These displays are a step towards rebuilding trust with passengers using our railways, as we continue to tackle the root causes of frustrating delays and cancellations.

“Through fundamental rail reform, we’re sweeping away decades of dysfunctionality – putting passengers first, driving growth through connectivity as part of this government’s Plan for Change.”

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander