Richard Branson may want to check his own record before attacking nationalised railway’s

Let he who is without subpar punctuality records cast the first stone.

Richard Branson, on the World at One this morning, was laying into the government’s handling of the West Coast Mainline franchise, while also using it as an opportunity to attack the idea of renationalisation more generally:

If they [the government] can’t run a bid process, they’re going to find it even harder to run a railway.

According to Network Rail, in the 366 days to 15 September 2012, 87.5 per cent of trains on the state-run East Coast franchise arrived on time.

Over the same period, 86 per cent of trains on the Richard Branson-run Virgin Trains franchise arrived on time.

So, a smaller percentage of trains arrive on time on Branson’s network than on the state’s. If Branson thinks the government can’t run railways, what on earth is he doing still owning one?