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For the third successive month, the National Rail Enquiry Service (NRES) has exceeded the Rail Regulator's target, to answer 90 per cent of calls, and so avoided a penalty payment under the enforcement order.
For the period 7 December 1997 to 3 January 1998 the service answered 96.7 per cent of calls slightly down compared with the previous month when the figure was 97.2 per cent.
The operational difficulties experienced by NRES on 5 January will be reflected in the next period's results. Meanwhile, the enforcement order remains in place.
Next year's business plan for the service is in preparation and among the items under discussion are : the measures taken to meet the secondary target - that 95% of all calls answered should be answered within 30 seconds - and the quality of the information made available through the service.
Notes to Editors
1. Performance figures since April 1997 have been : April 51%; May 65%; June 55%; July 71%; August 82%; September 85%; October 88% (after adjustment for Southall and Witham incidents); November 92%; December 97%.
2. In September the Regulator announced fines totalling £250,000 for the period 17 August to 14 September while in October a further £100,000 was levied for the period 15 September to 12 October.
