GNER is getting well on track with train times, with more than 90 per cent of its services on time.

Figures for April show the York-based East Coast train operator had 90.4 per cent of all its train running on time - a rise of 3.9 per cent on the previous month, and the company's best performance for five years.

Rail passenger watchdogs have welcomed the improvements, saying they were a sign that greater co-operation between GNER and Network Rail was paying off.

The average percentage of trains which ran on time across the previous 13 months was also up by 0.7 per cent to 83 per cent, also representing GNER's best performance since February 2001.

GNER said a major reason behind the success was that its fleet had the most reliable long-distance trains in Britain.

It claimed its Class 91 electric locomotives, the backbone of the fleet, were now more than five times more reliable than they were only three years ago.

The class achieved a "moving average" number of miles between breakdowns of 52,723 in April 2005.

A breakdown is defined as any incident causing a total of more than four minutes delay to all GNER services.

That is more than five times higher than the same month in 2002, when the figure stood at 9,810 miles between breakdowns.

GNER has also invested heavily in its fleet of ten diesel-powered High Speed Trains (HST).

The company said the reliability of these had more than doubled in the last three years, and a further £75 million was being invested in more improvements, including £25 million on transforming the interior of every HST to bring them up to a similar high standard of passenger comfort as GNER's rebuilt Mallard electric trains.

GNER's chief operating officer, Jonathan Metcalfe, said: "These results indicate that we are making good progress to meet performance targets in our new ten-year franchise.

"The continued improvement in performance is highly encouraging, although there remains much more to do.

"Our principal challenge is to work with Network Rail to make the East Coast route more reliable, including the overhead power supply".

Iain Duff, of the Rail Passengers' Council, said he was "delighted" at the improvements and put the improved times down to better relations between train companies and track operators. He said: "On behalf of the passengers, we want the most reliable railway we can get and we understand that the delays haven't all been the fault of the train companies.

"With continued, better co-operation between the people that run the trains and the people that run the track, I feel confident things should continue to improve."

Updated: 10:45 Wednesday, May 25, 2005