How are we doing?
We want to be honest and open about how we’re doing, and about the action we’re taking where we need to improve. That’s why we’ve put together a collection of handy train performance results, so you can get the full picture.
Improvements we’re making
We know a bit of good news goes a long way, however big or small it may be. So, we wanted to let you know that we're continuing to make improvements across our network. Here are just a few of the things we’re doing this year:
- We’re delivering £306m of investment to renew and enhance our shared railway infrastructure to help keep trains on time.
- We're investing in more fault-finding equipment so we can fix problems before they happen, to avoid delays.
- We’re working with British Transport Police and using drones and AI-powered cameras to quickly detect and prevent people from trespassing on the railway.
Want to know more about what we're doing to help keep your trains on time?
Further information on targets can be found by downloading our Joint Performance Strategy created together with Network Rail. Little by little, we're investing in making your journey with us better.
Current Period: 3
31 May - 27 June 2026
Train performance results by Southeastern station
Find out how many of our trains arrived at your station within 3 minutes of their advertised time, how many arrivals were cancelled per station, and how Southeastern is doing compared with other train operators at the station.
Select a station and view performance results
We measure how punctual our services are using the ‘On Time’ measure, in common with other train operators. This measure records punctuality to the minute at every station, and not just the final destination of the train.
We measure our performance in four-week long periods, with 13 periods being reported each year. The reporting year starts in April with Period 1. You will be able to see the most up to date figures here as soon as they become available (usually around 2 weeks after the end of each period).
You can find out more about the industry's current official measure of punctuality on the Network Rail website.
Department for Transport Operational Targets and KPIs
As part of our Service Agreement with the Department for Transport, we have a number of Targets and KPIs to help focus minds and efforts in priority areas.
Please see the below Performance-related Targets and KPIs and how we're doing:
| DfT Target |
88.2% |
87.80% |
87.9% |
| T-3 |
89.13% |
87.57% |
82.36% |
| T-3 MAA |
85.76% |
85.66% |
85.22% |
| DfT Target |
1.7% |
1.7% |
1.7% |
| All Stations Cancellations |
1.20% |
2.40% |
2.80% |
| All Stations Cancellations MAA |
1.62% |
1.66% |
1.77% |
We also have the below KPIs which we use to monitor performance, which do not have a defined DfT target:
| TOC-On-Self Delay Minutes |
22,590 |
26,283 |
34,878 |
| TOC-On Self Delay Minutes MAA |
24,969 |
24,827 |
26.055 |
| TOC-On-Self Cancellations |
340 |
403 |
566 |
| TOC-On-Self Cancellations MAA |
373 |
368 |
387 |
| Short Formations |
93 |
71 |
118 |
| Short Formations MAA |
86.77 |
87.23 |
90 |
Key:
- MAA = Moving Annual Average
- T-3 = The percentage of recorded station stops arrived at early or less than three minutes after the scheduled time
- All Stations Cancellations = Percentage of recorded planned station stops cancelled, for all of the Passenger Services
- TOC-On-Self = Caused directly by the operator rather than external factors
Operational Performance
Unfortunately, our Time-to-3 and All Stations Cancellations targets were missed for Period 3.
Period 3 was a particularly challenging operating period, with performance significantly impacted by extreme weather, infrastructure failures and several high-impact incidents. Southeastern Period 3 T-3 performance was 82.36% against a target of 88.7%, with the MAA reducing to 85.2%, whilst periodic cancellations were 2.8% against a target of 1.9%, with an MAA of 2.3% (against a target of 2.1%). Despite this difficult start to the Rail year, SER continues to compare favourably against much of the industry, with SER remaining the third best-performing route nationally for T-3 performance (MAA of 85.9%).
There were 14 incidents causing over 1k minutes of delay, with the most significant being the recycling centre fire near New Cross, which generated almost 10,000 delay minutes, 178 cancellations and substantial disruption across the network. Another defining feature of the period was the June heatwave. More broadly, operational performance has been impacted by a significant increase in major incidents, with 59 incidents exceeding 1,000 delay minutes recorded a cross SER/Kent during the first quarter of FY 27 compared with 27 during the same period last year.
Despite operating within a red weather warning area, SER was the only operator in the South to maintain a full timetable throughout the hottest days. This decision was taken through an integrated assessment of operational, customer and safety impacts, recognising both the welfare implications for customers and the exceptionally strong demand for travel to coastal destinations. A subsequent review concluded that maintaining the full service was the right decision and demonstrated the growing maturity of the integrated railway in prioritising whole-system customer outcomes.