New rail operator Greater Anglia has recorded its first punctuality figures, which show that so far it has performed slightly worse than its predecessor.

Rail punctuality improved last month with all companies exceeding a trains-on-time figure of 90pc, according to Network Rail.

However, the figures for Greater Anglia show that 91.8pc of its trains arrived on time in March compared to the 92pc punctuality figures for National Express East Anglia for the same period last year.

It is the first time the train operator has featured on the punctuality league table after taking over the running of the Norwich-London mainline and other East Anglian services on February 5.

The company - a branch of Dutch train firm Abellio - issued an apology to passengers last month after overhead cable problems and train faults caused delays in their first month in charge operating a new 28 month franchise.

A Greater Anglia spokesman said the company had performed well in the performance figures from March 4 to 31.

'The performance results for the intercity services between Norfolk and London were at their highest levels for almost two years. We are working closely with Network Rail to build on this progress. However, there is still work to be done and we are focusing our efforts on improving the train service still further for our customers - on a consistent and ongoing basis,' the spokesman said.

First Capital Connect, which runs services between King's Lynn and London, recorded a 91.5pc punctuality rate in March compared to 92.7pc last March.

Performance improved on East Midlands Trains with 96pc (94.5pc the previous year) of commuter trains arriving within five minutes and long distance services getting to their destinations within 10 minutes.

Nationally, the punctuality figure for March 4 to March 31 was 93.4pc, which compared with 92.9pc in the same period last year.

The best-performing company last month was Merseyrail, which ran 97.2pc of trains on time and the poorest-performing company was East Coast with a March 2012 figure of 90.5pc.

A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: 'These latest figures show train companies have worked hard with the rest of the industry to bring performance up to historically high levels.

'However, we're not complacent and will continue to focus our efforts on providing passengers with the service they expect and deserve.'