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Revealed: The stations where your train is most likely to be cancelled

Huddersfield has been named as the station where passengers are most likely to see their train cancelled[1], according to new research.

Nationwide data of station performance put the West Yorkshire town as the worst place for train cancellations, with more than one in ten trains cancelled between the start of the year and the end of July.

It comes as the National Rail data, collated by the On Time Trains website, shows that nearly 44 per cent of all trains across the period were either cancelled or delayed[2] by more than a minute.

Of Britain’s busiest 100 stations, Huddersfield was worst for cancellations with more than 5,500 (13 per cent) trains from the station being cancelled across the seven-month period.

Manchester Victoria had the second worst performer with 10 per cent of trains cancelled, while York, Newcastle and Manchester Oxford Road all had the joint third highest figure at nine per cent.

Nearly all of these stations are served by TransPennine Express[3] which has been badly affected by driver’s union Aslef banning overtime in the first half of the year.


Trains cancelled by station[4]

In May, Rishi Sunak nationalised the operator[5], stripping it from transport company First Group, after months of significant disruption and cancellations.

Chris Jackson, interim TPE managing director, said the service had seen “seen improvements in performance” since the change in management.

It is now the third rail operating company brought under public ownership after Northern Rail was nationalised in 2020 and LNER in 2018.

Wales was the worst-performing region when it came to cancellation rates, with seven per cent of all trains from Welsh stations being cancelled during the time period.

In total, around three per cent of all trains in the UK[6] were cancelled in the first half of this year, while 41 per cent were at least one minute late. 

The latest figures come as the UK’s national rail system has been beset by a myriad of issues this year, including infrastructure failures and a series of strikes by rail unions[7].


Worst performing stations (% cancelled)[8]

Since the turn of the year, the big rail unions – the RMT, Aslef or the TSSA – have taken strike action across 16 days, with the RMT announcing 10 days of strikes alone.

This weekend saw the latest disruption, with dozens of services cancelled as with the RMT striking on Friday and Aslef walking out on Saturday.

The industrial action is expected to continue throughout the rest of the year, with union bosses and the rail firms no closer to agreeing a deal over pay and working conditions.

Of the top 100 stations, Surrey Quays in south London was the worst-performing station in terms of delays, with nearly 60 per cent of all services from the stop delayed or cancelled.

Leicester was the next worst at 59 per cent, while Manchester Oxford Street and York had the joint third highest proportion of delays or cancellations at 58 per cent.

Bath Spa and Milton Keynes were worst when it came to long delays with one in 10 services being delayed by more than ten minutes.


Best performing stations (% cancelled)[9]

Norwich was the most reliable station when it came to trains being on time, with only 14 per cent of services being delayed or cancelled.

Paul Tuohy, of the pressure group Campaign for Better Transport, said: “We want people to travel by train so high rates of cancellations are unacceptable.

“The government and industry need to sort this out and ensure services run to schedule so that passengers can travel with confidence.”

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “Ministers have been clear with operators they need to deliver punctual services, keeping delays to a minimum.

“To help make our railways more reliable, it’s crucial unions agree to reforms that will modernise the industry.”

References

  1. ^ likely to see their train cancelled (www.telegraph.co.uk)
  2. ^ cancelled or delayed (www.telegraph.co.uk)
  3. ^ TransPennine Express (www.telegraph.co.uk)
  4. ^ Trains cancelled by station (cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk)
  5. ^ nationalised the operator (www.telegraph.co.uk)
  6. ^ all trains in the UK (www.telegraph.co.uk)
  7. ^ a series of strikes by rail unions (www.telegraph.co.uk)
  8. ^ Worst performing stations (% cancelled) (cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk)
  9. ^ Best performing stations (% cancelled) (cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk)

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