Norfolk and Suffolk train passengers using Greater Anglia services have seen an improvement in reliability, new figures have revealed.

Nearly 94pc of Greater Anglia trains were on time last month and the figures for the train operator show a 5pc increase in punctuality compared to the same four-week period the previous year.

The Greater Anglia punctuality performance figures – released yesterday by Network Rail along with figures for all of the other train operators across the country – show that from December 9 to January 5, Greater Anglia's punctuality rate was 93.4pc whereas in the same four weeks in the year before, the rate was 88.1pc.

The train operator's moving annual average – which measures performance over the last 12 months – was 92.2pc.

Ruud Haket, managing director of Greater Anglia said: 'Our continued and relentless focus on delivering better and improving levels of train service punctuality is positively reflected in these latest performance statistics.

'The alliance with Network Rail and the increased reliability of our fleet of trains has again helped to achieve an excellent four-week period of performance and the best-ever annual average punctuality across the Greater Anglia network.'

Meanwhile both East Midlands Trains and First Capital Connect saw a dip in their punctuality rates when comparing the last four weeks with the same four weeks in the previous year.

Both operators said that their services had been affected by incidents beyond their control.

For First Capital Connect, which runs services between King's Lynn and London, the punctuality figure was 82.9pc from December 9 to January 5, while the same time the previous year had been 87.6pc. The company's moving annual average was 89.5pc.

For East Midlands Trains. which runs trains on the Norwich to Liverpool line, the punctuality figure for December 9 to January 5 was 89.3pc compared to 92.7pc for the same period 12 months earlier. The company's moving annual average was 93.1pc. A spokesman said: 'We had a few issues that were out of our control. Quite a lot of it was due to the severe weather just before Christmas.'

Nationally, 88.2pc of trains ran on time between December 9, 2012, to January 5, 2013, compared with 88.8pc in the same period over the new year in 2011/12. The national moving annual average was 91.4pc.