Train services run by Southern, Thameslink and ScotRail all missed punctuality targets, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said.
Network Rail maintains the rail system.
Rail passenger journeys have risen 59.1% since 2005, while freight is up 9.1%.
Passengers
using Thameslink routes have had to deal with disruption caused by
long-term work at London Bridge, while track and signalling failures
have disrupted travellers on Southern lines.
Last year, travellers
passing through north London during the Christmas period suffered
delays as engineering work at King's Cross and Paddington stations
overran.
Network Rail pointed out that passenger numbers had more than doubled in the last 20 years since privatisation.
It said the number of people travelling by train grew by 67.3 million to a record high of 1.65 billion passengers last year.
More passengers
The ORR said 89.6% of trains were on time, well below Network Rail's 92.5% target.
Last year, the percentage of trains that ran on time fell to 90%, down from 90.9% in 2013.
Publishing
its annual results on Thursday, Network Rail set aside £77m for fines
related to missing its punctuality targets, £24m of which it said had
been "released".
It also pointed to a £246m cut in funding from
the ORR, which it said contributed to a 51% decline in pre-tax profits
to £506m. Network Rail added that rail investment was not affected.
The ORR conceded the network had had to cope with a large rise in use over time.
Network
Rail finance director Patrick Butcher added that there were "more than a
million more trains on the network than 10 years ago".
Network Rail added: "There are clearly opportunities to improve
following decades of under-investment in the rail network. However, it
is worth highlighting that we operate the safest passenger network in
Europe and the railway asset reliability is the best it has ever been.
"The increase in passengers means that more people are getting to their destination on time than ever before."
Transport
Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "I expect the regulator to hold
Network Rail to account, performance must and should improve. The
industry has to work together to address these failings and deliver for
passengers and the economy: that needs to start now."
Network Rail is spending £24bn over five years on a whole host of
projects designed to make more trains run on time and ease overcrowding.
But this report from the regulator, the ORR, says that one year
in, the timetable for improvements is slipping and some costs are going
up.
For example, work to upgrade the signals around Cardiff will
now finish 17 months later than planned, meaning more delays for
passengers.
And a project to electrify lines between Manchester
and Liverpool finished about a month late, forcing passengers to use
smaller, overcrowded trains for longer.
There is some praise in
the report, especially for the way Network Rail has improved punctuality
on the East Coast mainline from London to Edinburgh, and for freight
services.
Having said that, punctuality overall remains 3% below
target, with problems singled out on Southern trains, Thameslink trains
and services across Scotland.
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