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date 15 December 2000 source ATOC type Press release
The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) today said performance figures for National Rail operators between April and October this year were disappointing.
Commenting on the Strategic Rail Authority's Rail Performance Report published today, ATOC Director General George Muir said: "There is no doubt that we are disappointed with our performance between April and October this year. There were many external factors which contributed to poor performance, such as security alerts and extreme weather conditions. These factors combined with record levels of growth in passenger journeys and train services have caused severe congestion on the network.
"We wish we could turn performance around over night but the fact of the matter remains that it will take some time for investment plans to filter through. We need to recover from recent events before we will be able to improve performance. We are working hard to restore services back to the normal timetable under the timeframes set out in Railtrack's Recovery Plan.
"The National Passenger Survey shows some very encouraging results with most train operators recording good levels of customer satisfaction but we realise we will have to work harder than ever before to maintain these levels."
