Struggling rail operator CrossCountry has repeatedly breached its own internal performance targets despite cutting services late last year as part of a recovery plan, City AM understands.

The former Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, approved proposals by the operator to run a reduced timetable for three months between August and November after its performance was labelled “dire.”

Cancellations have risen by an average of 15 per cent since the end of that remedial plan, analysis of data from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) reveals.

CrossCountry put in place a series of performance indicators following the restoration of services in November, which included a maximum of 420 cancellations per month to avoid breaching strict commitments. It outlined the objectives in an internal document seen by City AM and circulated to Network Rail and its members in December.

Comparisons with ORR cancellation data suggest it breached those performance indicators in four of the last five months. Two of the monthly reporting periods saw total cancellations reach 749 and 929, significantly ahead of CrossCountry’s absolute worst benchmark.

In the immediate month following the remedial plan, the rail company, a subsidiary of Aviva Group, also breached its targets, cancelling 453 trains, according to the document. This was, however, a month in which travel chaos for many train firms worsened after a pay award to drivers meant many worked fewer overtime shifts.

One senior rail industry figure alleged CrossCountry is expected to fail to deliver a full timetable in May, although the operator denies this is the case.

The government has previously suggested it could fast-forward nationalising rail operators that fail to hit performance targets.

The firm says it is not in breach of its contract, a scenario that would mean the Department for Transport (DfT) could bring it under public ownership without compensation. Its current arrangement ends in 2031 and is one of the longest of any UK rail company.

The revelations surrounding CrossCountry’s faltering performance come after the Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, faced calls in parliament on Thursday to bring it into public ownership.