Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Paul Byrne

UK's worst stations where almost three-quarters of trains are delayed

Commuter trains at the nation’s worst-performing railway station are delayed 72% of the time.

Passengers at Lancaster station faced delays on 63.5% of all services.

The station, which opened in 1846, is on the Glasgow to London West Coast Mainline and is used by more than 2.1million people every year.

But it also provides services through the north west, including Cumbria and the Lake District, and West Yorkshire.

John Bearpark, from the Lancaster and Skipton Rail User Group, said: “It is a bit of a bottleneck on the line. They don’t have the capacity to cope.

Wakefield Westgate station is another poor performer (GoogleMaps)

“It is on the West Coast Mainline but you have got other routes joining it. And the mainline trains get priority.

“We are trying to run a lot of trains on not an ideal amount of track.”

At Birmingham New Street Station, used by nearly 48 million passengers a year and the UK’s fifth busiest, 58.7% of trains on its 13 platforms were delayed.

At the other end of the scale are lucky commuters in Cardiff, where just 6% of trains are late.

Data was collected for more than 2,500 stations via a Freedom of Information request to Network Rail from software firm RotaCloud, which has created an online Train Lateness Tool for England, Scotland and Wales.

Co-founder James Lintern said the firm, based in York, introduced flexible working after staff were delayed.

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, said: “We know how frustrating delays can be. We’re doing more to tackle them, spending billions on major upgrades to ease congestion.”

The top 10 stations for delayed trains:

1 - Lancaster - 63.5%

2 - Wakefield Westgate - 63%

3 - Durham - 62.8%

Durham city train station (Newcastle Chronicle)

4 - Manchester Oxford Road - 62.8%

Oxford Road railway station in Manchester (Google Maps)

5 - Meadowhall, Sheffield - 62 .5%

Meadowhall, Sheffield (GoogleMaps)

6 - Smethwick Galton Bridge, Birmingham - 60.7%

Smethwick Galton Bridge, Birmingham (GoogleMaps)

7 - Inverkeithing, Fife - 60.3%

Inverkeithing, Fife (GoogleMaps)

8 - Stalybridge, Greater Manchester - 60.3%

Stalybridge, Greater Manchester (GoogleMaps)

9 - Huddersfield - 59.7%

Huddersfield train station (Getty)

10 - Birmingham New Street - 58.7%

New Street station (SWNS)
 
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.