Which UK train operators run on time most often? Our own monthly ranking, built from Network Rail's TRUST arrival data.
Updated September 2026
Train Badger ranks UK train operators by punctuality using Network Rail's own TRUST arrival data. For September 2026, Island Line is ranked #1 for on-time arrivals. Every operator's rank is recalculated each month from live arrival data, and only operators with enough recorded services that month are ranked at all.
| Rank | Operator | Movement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Island Line | No change |
| 2 | Merseyrail | No change |
| 3 | ScotRail | No change |
| 4 | London Overground | No change |
| 5 | Elizabeth line | Up 1 place |
| 6 | Greater Anglia | Up 1 place |
| 7 | Heathrow Express | Down 2 places |
| 8 | Chiltern Railways | Up 2 places |
| 9 | South Western Railway | Up 2 places |
| 10 | c2c | Down 2 places |
| 11 | Northern | Up 1 place |
| 12 | Transport for Wales | Up 3 places |
| 13 | Southeastern | Down 4 places |
| 14 | West Midlands Railway | Down 1 place |
| 15 | Govia Thameslink Railway | Down 1 place |
| 16 | TransPennine Express | No change |
| 17 | Great Western Railway | No change |
| 18 | Hull Trains | Up 1 place |
| 19 | East Midlands Railway | Down 1 place |
| 20 | Lumo | Up 2 places |
| 21 | LNER | No change |
| 22 | Grand Central | Up 1 place |
| 23 | CrossCountry | Down 3 places |
| 24 | Avanti West Coast | No change |
| 25 | Caledonian Sleeper | No change |
| Operator | May 2026 | June 2026 | July 2026 | August 2026 | September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island Line | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Merseyrail | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| ScotRail | 5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| London Overground | 8 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| Elizabeth line | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| Greater Anglia | 4 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Heathrow Express | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| Chiltern Railways | 9 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 8 |
| South Western Railway | 15 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 9 |
| c2c | 3 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| Northern | 14 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
| Transport for Wales | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 12 |
| Southeastern | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 13 |
| West Midlands Railway | 13 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 14 |
| Govia Thameslink Railway | 10 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 15 |
| TransPennine Express | 18 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 16 |
| Great Western Railway | 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| Hull Trains | 19 | 19 | 16 | 19 | 18 |
| East Midlands Railway | 17 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 19 |
| Lumo | 22 | 22 | 21 | 22 | 20 |
| LNER | 21 | 23 | 20 | 21 | 21 |
| Grand Central | 23 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 22 |
| CrossCountry | 20 | 20 | 23 | 20 | 23 |
| Avanti West Coast | 24 | 24 | 25 | 24 | 24 |
| Caledonian Sleeper | 25 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 25 |
This ranking is built from Network Rail's TRUST train-running data, the same real-time feed Train Badger uses to verify Delay Repay claims. Arrivals that can be matched to an operator are counted at every recorded stop. Our threshold: within 5 minutes of the timetable at each recorded stop. Variation is measured as an absolute difference, so a train running more than 5 minutes early counts the same as one running more than 5 minutes late — neither is on time by this measure.
Operators are ranked each complete calendar month by the share of their arrivals that were on time. Where two operators tie, the one with fewer cancellations that month ranks higher. An operator needs at least 2,000 recorded arrivals in a month to be ranked at all — below that, a small sample could swing the ranking, so the operator is listed separately as not having enough data that month, with no figures attached. Movement shows the change in rank versus the previous ranked month only; it is never a measure of performance by itself.
Excluded from this ranking: April 2026 (first month only partly captured). The July 2026 BST epoch-decode bug (see docs/common-pitfalls.md) corrupted stored arrival/departure clock times, not the on-time/cancellation figures this ranking is built from (those come from a separate TRUST feed field and from service_date), and the one-off repair landed before the monthly rollup first ran.
Contains data from Network Rail, used under the Open Government Licence.
This ranking is Train Badger's own analysis of Network Rail data — it is not an official statistic. For the authoritative source, see the Office of Rail and Road's official passenger rail performance statistics. See our Terms of Use for full details.