TRAIN punctuality has slumped to a 13-year low after a series of failings during 2018.

One in seven trains missed the industry’s Public Performance Measure of reliability in the 12 months to December 8.

Extreme weather, errors in the launch of timetables, strikes and signalling failures have been blamed.

Snow and ice crippled parts of the network when the Beast from the East hit Britain in February and March, while rails buckled in the heatwave just three months later.

Passengers in the north and south east of England faced weeks of chaos when new timetables were introduced in May.

Several operators suffered disruption during a long-running dispute over guards on trains while London Waterloo services were hit by signalling faults.

PPM measures whether a train arrives at its final destination within five minutes of the scheduled time, or ten minutes for a long-distance service. The cost of rail fares will rise next week by an average 3.1 per cent.

Anthony Smith, of watchdog Transport Focus, said: “People using the railway need to be able to rely on the industry’s most basic promise — the timetable.”

Robert Nisbet, of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “We are sorry when trains don’t run on time.”