Worst stations for delays are revealed
More than half of services to some of Britain’s busiest passenger stations fail to run on time, a survey finds
As many as seven in 10 trains are cancelled or delayed at some of Britain’s busiest railway stations, according to Which? Trains were at least one minute late or cancelled at least half of the time at nine of the busiest 20 stations analysed by the consumer watchdog. Manchester’s Oxford Road station, which serves more than nine million passenger journeys each year, was found to have the least punctual services, followed by York, Gatwick Airport and Birmingham New Street.
AS MANY as seven in 10 trains are cancelled or delayed at some of Britain’s busiest railway stations, a Which? report has found.
The consumer watchdog has identified the busy commuter hubs that it is calling the UK’S “travel black spots”, where trains are least reliable.
Trains were late or cancelled at least half of the time at a nine of the busiest 20 stations analysed.
Manchester’s Oxford Road station, which hosts more than nine million passenger journeys each year, has the least punctual services, with more than two thirds (68 per cent) of its trains running late or cancelled since the beginning of this year, Which? found.
The problems were even more intense at peak times – with more than three quarters (77 per cent) of trains not departing or arriving as scheduled.
York station, which has more than 10million annual passenger journeys, was second worst. Some 65 per cent of trains departed or arrived late or were cancelled over the period.
Virgin East Coast Trains (which had its franchise taken over by London North Eastern Railway in June) was the operator that performed worst at this station with more than three quarters (78 per cent) of trains arriving or departing late or being cancelled.
Passengers at Gatwick Airport and Birmingham New Street have had to put up with the joint third worst punctuality, with 60 per cent of services failing to run to schedule.
Which? used data from rail-performance tracking site On Time Trains to work out how many departures and arrivals were at least one minute late or cancelled. It analysed all delays as even those of a few minutes can have a knock-on effect on other services on the network and impact on passengers ability to complete their onward journey as planned.
Chaos created by a change to timetables earlier this year also contributed to the lack of reliability of trains at commuter hubs, Which? said.
Alex Hayman, Which? managing director of public markets, said: “Passengers have told us reliability is hugely important to them.
“They have been left deeply frustrated at the unacceptably high levels of delays and cancellations that impact on their everyday lives.
“Passengers must be at the centre of the forthcoming Government rail review, which must look at performance targets to drive improvements in punctuality and reliability for passengers.”