A RAIL firm previously criticised for the quality of its services has been named among the worst in the country for failing to run trains on time.

Just 68 per cent of First TransPennine trains were on time during the last quarter of last year, compared to a national average of more than 80 per cent.

The company took over the cross-Pennine route operated by Arriva Trains Northern more than a year ago and was forced to shelve some services during a two-week period in November because of problems with maintenance and a dispute with staff over rest day working.

Quarterly punctuality figures for October to December last year, released by the Strategic Rail Authority, showed only Virgin West Coast and Central Trains performed worse.

Last night, David Mallender, a spokesman for First TransPennine, which takes in a number of towns and cities including Leeds, York, Darlington, Middlesbrough and Newcastle, defended the firm's record of running trains on time.

He said it faced stiffer targets than other train companies classed as long-distance operators, even though journeys on its network could stretch from as far as Manchester airport to Newcastle.

He said: "The figures reflect the autumn period of last year when we suffered well-documented problems with the reliability of our trains and were not running a full timetable as a result.

"Generally though, things have improved and if you were to measure us using the same criteria as the long-distance companies - that is trains arriving within ten minutes rather than five - then we would currently be achieving an 88 per cent punctuality rate."

Passenger Jane Thompson, who travels daily from Thirsk, in North Yorkshire, to Leeds on the TransPennine route, said she had suffered continuing difficulties.

She said: "Trains are cancelled or delayed without warning and they are regularly half an hour late.

"In the last few weeks, services, particularly on an evening, have been pretty shoddy."

Rail punctuality generally improved last autumn, but one in five trains still did not run on time.

Nineteen of the 24 train operating companies showed improvements in performance, compared with autumn 2003, including East Coast Main Line operator GNER and Virgin Cross Country.

John Gelson, a spokesman for GNER, said: "We're showing a steady improvement.

"However, there is always more to do and we will be continuing the work that we are doing to make our train fleet even more reliable and improve performance for passengers."

The new Northern rail franchise had 82.3 per cent of its trains on time, although the figures only took in the first few weeks of its operation.