CHILTERN Railways is the must punctual of all Britain's main line operators, according to new statistics from the Rail Regulator.

Overall, 95.2 per cent of Chiltern's services arrived on time or within five minutes of scheduled time between October and December last year.

Only the Isle of Wight line scored better, with a 96.7 per cent punctuality record, but it runs a simple shuttle service on a single route.

Chiltern, which serves Banbury, Kings Sutton, Bicester North and Haddenham & Thame Parkway, improved its performance despite the survey period covering the annual leaf fall season, which hit overall performance across the South East of England.

First Great Western's long-distance services showed signs of progress, with 76 per cent of trains on time, or within 10 minutes of time, up on 2005's 67.6 per cent, but it is still the least punctual of the seven long-distance operators.

There were also improvements for FGW's Thames Valley commuter services, which serve Oxfordshire, though from a low base.

The 2006 final quarter overall punctuality figure of 82.7 per cent was up on 2005's 80 per cent, but still some way off the sector average of 89.6 per cent.

In peak hours, FGW's punctuality was poorer, at 70.9 per cent, up from 2005's 63.2 per cent, but down from the July to September figure last year of 74.6 per cent on time or within five minutes of time.

South East regional operators' average punctuality for October to December last year was well ahead of FGW's efforts, at 80.6 per cent, though Chiltern's peak services did even better, with 93.2 per cent punctuality, making it the best performer in the region.

Chiltern's managing director, Cath Proctor, said: "Even though we have received these results, this is no time for complacency.

"We will continue to focus on improving performance and increasing passengers' satisfaction.

FGW spokesman Lance Cole said: "FGW is working to address its performance, as can be seen by the near 10 points improvement for its high-speed services to 76 per cent. From February 4, our high-speed services performance measure has risen again, to 83.1 per cent."

Nationally, the October to December 2006 figures were the best autumn statistics in terms of trains on time since before the Hatfield rail crash in October 2000.

However, punctuality remained the biggest source of complaints, said the Office of Rail Regulation in its quarterly Rail Trends report, representing 47 per cent of all complaints, compared with 44 per cent in the last quarter of 2005.