The high speed route from London to the Channel Tunnel, operated
by London St. Pancras High Speed, saw significantly improved
train performance in the latest reporting year alongside
increases in traffic volumes, the Office of Rail and Road said
today (30 July) in its annual report on London St. Pancras High
Speed. However, the regulator has required the company to improve
how it manages its assets, including lifts and escalators, where
issues persist.
London St. Pancras High Speed reduced the number of services it
delayed to around one in every 400 train services between April
2024 and March 2025, down from around three in every 400 services
in the previous year. The average delay per train was 4.2
seconds, around one third of the average delay compared to the
year before. This is despite traffic volumes increasing by 8%
overall.
Performance issues are now being dominated by low likelihood,
high impact incidents, which included a major points failure and
two external power supply disruptions in the latest year. The
regulator is urging London St. Pancras High Speed to review how
it recovers from major incidents.
The regulator is also requiring London St. Pancras High Speed to
improve its management of station assets, specifically lifts and
escalators. One significant incident at Ebbsfleet International
Station highlighted by the regulator's report saw two members of
the public needing hospital attention. Meanwhile, across
its infrastructure portfolio, better forecasting of asset
condition is needed, as well as increased preparedness for
extreme weather-related risks.
In its recent Final Determination for PR24, ORR required London
St. Pancras High Speed to accelerate improvements to its
management of assets, including lifts and escalators. The
regulator has told the company that it will continue to monitor
this area closely.
Feras Alshaker, Director, Planning and Performance,
said:
"London St. Pancras High Speed continues to deliver a good
experience for its users overall, with reliability and
punctuality much higher than the mainline network. As the high
speed line nears two decades of operation, it is important that
London St. Pancras High Speed learns lessons from its own and
other networks to sustain these high levels of performance as its
assets age."
Notes to editors
-
Annual Report on London
St Pancras Highspeed 2024 to 2025
- The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is the independent economic
and safety regulator for Great Britain's railways, and also has
regulatory powers to hold National Highways to account. It has
duties to regulate London St. Pancras Highspeed under lease
agreements that the company holds with the Secretary of State for
Transport.
- About the high speed network:
- The HS1 network is a 109km high-speed rail line that
connects London St. Pancras through Kent to the Channel
Tunnel.
- There are four stations on the line: London St. Pancras,
Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford
International.
- The network is currently used by domestic SouthEastern
‘Javelin' services between London and Kent and within Kent;
and Eurostar passenger trains.
