Railways told to improve services amid snow chaos

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The rail industry has been told to improve its performance during heavy snowfall.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) says lessons must be learned from the disruption during the spell of severe weather before Christmas.

It says one area of concern is the way companies struggled to keep passengers informed.

The regulator has written to Network Rail and the passenger train companies calling for rapid improvements.

ORR Chief Executive Bill Emery said that all transport sectors had faced difficulties during the recent hostile weather conditions and he paid tribute to staff for their efforts in the freezing temperatures.

But he was clear that the rail industry must improve performance for passengers "particularly in providing useful and accurate information".

And he warned Network Rail that the company was in danger of missing key punctuality performance targets.

A spokesman admitted on Monday that not every service had been as good as passengers and freight operators had a right to expect.

He said the organisation was examining ways of minimising the effects of the harsh weather and to improve the flow of information to passengers hit by delays.