Could do better - a rail group's verdict just over a week after major timetable changes were brought in to carry out major work at London Bridge.

Jocelyn Pearson, passenger issues manager at Passenger Focus, was speaking after Southeastern released its latest punctuality figures.

The train operator said nearly 92% of its trains had arrived on time in that period - as the biggest timetable changes for five years started to bite.

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But it comes as commuters complain of turmoil, safety issues and overcrowding at stations.

Work to rebuild London Bridge is part of the £6.5bn Thameslink programme - meaning Southeastern services to Charing Cross are unable to stop at London Bridge until August next year.

Southeastern said, since last Monday, it had laid on more than 170 agency staff at stations to help passengers understand the new routes. This was on top of 100 extra permanent frontline staff recruited to provide support for passengers.

But Jocelyn Pearson said: "They need to get the trains in on time especially while the station in London's being reconstructed.

Video: Reporter Graham Stothard investigates Southeastern's recent punctuality rates

"But that figure only tells us what time the train arrives into London and it doesn't tell us if it's late at all the stations along the route.

"This is the way that train punctuality is got together nationally but we've been pressing for quite some time now.

"Passengers don't necessarily travel the whole route and what passengers want to know is, 'at my station were you on time?' "

She called on train bosses to break down the figures further.

She also called for clearer punctuality figures: at the moment they only tell if trains are within five minutes of being on time, not if they're actually arriving according to the timetable.

She said: "If you're a passenger you don't want to know if nearly 92% arrived within five minutes of the published time.

"If you're a commuter, five minutes late is five minutes late so you want a bit more detailed information and you want more exact information as well.

"This train service really has to pull up and really deliver for the passengers in Kent; they really need this service."

But Southeastern said it had pulled out all the stops to help passengers.

In the build-up to the timetable changes, they said, more than one million leaflets were distributed to passengers, hundreds of announcements were made at stations, more than 60,000 letters were sent, and 30 ‘Meet the Manager’ sessions were held to inform passengers of the changes.

David Statham, managing director at Southeastern, said: "Our new timetable requires many passengers to change their travel patterns, and we thank them for their patience.

"We’ve been working hard to provide as much assistance as possible during the first week to keep Kent and London moving while the vital rebuild takes place at London Bridge.

"Performance was good last week, with more than 91 per cent of trains arriving on time and most passengers seem to have adapted well to the new timetable.

"Changes on this scale are always difficult to predict and we knew that some services would be particularly busy, so we’re monitoring progress and collecting feedback to identify where we can improve services.

"We’ve already adjusted stopping patterns for two trains between Barnehurst and Slade Green to minimise delays, and we’ve added stops at Walmer and Martin Mill for school pupils travelling between Sandwich and Dover.

"It will take a few weeks for the new timetable to bed-in, but we’ll publish an update on further changes that we plan to make in response to passenger feedback and what we have learned by the end of January."

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