A TRAIN company has found a novel way of making its services run on time: it has simply added a few minutes to the official journey time in its new timetable.

Thameslink, which operates between Brighton and Bedford, stands to save hundreds of thousands of pounds in performance penalties even though the actual journey time will remain unchanged.

Up to four minutes has been added to the summer timetable for trips in the peak period, when Thameslink is liable for the highest penalties for running late trains.

The company was fined £2.2 million for running late trains last year and recorded the worst performance among operators in the South East, with only 64 per cent of trains on time in the final quarter.

Thameslink admitted that the changes were being made to reduce the number of trains recorded as being late. A spokesman said that passengers could not expect to travel any faster but would at least be less likely to be caught out by unscheduled delays.

He said that the rapid rise in passengers using Thameslink, up 40 per per cent to 110,000 a day since 1998, meant that trains were being held longer at platforms to allow everyone to board.

“Thameslink has got busier over the years, so we are being sensible and saying we have got to allow a bit more time,” the spokesman said. “Yes, the journey is going to be a tiny bit longer, but it will only be by a couple of minutes.

“Passengers get annoyed when, day after day, their train arrives at 8.20 when it was scheduled to arrive at 8.15. We are adjusting the service to suit the circumstances.”

The Rail Passengers Council said it feared that train companies across Britain would start adjusting their timetables to give a false appearance that services had improved.

A spokeswoman said: “While we welcome anything that helps the passenger to predict when they will arrive, we think train companies could be more honest about what they are doing. It is disingenuous to tack five minutes on to the timetable and then claim an improvement.”

Train companies serving the London suburbs often add a few minutes to the winter timetable to allow for delays caused by leaves on the line. Thameslink’s adjusted timetable marks a new tactic because it covers the summer period, when there are generally fewer delays.

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