Rail cancellations have reached their worst level in nearly a decade, according to analysis of Office of Rail and Road data by PA news agency.
The rail industry produces a cancellations score – counting full cancellations as one and part-cancellations as half – which shows the equivalent of 4 per cent of the 7.3 million trains planned in that period were cancelled.
Despite poor performance, tickets in England will increase by 4.6 per cent next year, while the cost of railcards will rise by £5, or about 17 per cent.
Avanti West Coast had the highest cancellations (7.8 per cent), followed by CrossCountry (7.4 per cent), Northern (5.7 per cent) and Govia Thameslink (5.2 per cent).
Cancellations have soared over the past decadeRail journalist Tony Miles, of Modern Railways magazine, said much of the poor performance because of “a failure of successive governments to really resolve the staffing issues on rail, and that includes getting a proper seven-day railway in the terms and conditions (of train crew) – and recruiting enough staff – so they don’t have to rely on overtime and rest-day working”.
Mr Miles claimed some train drivers have opted out of extra shifts since the Labour Government offered a multi-year pay deal to their union Aslef without changes to terms and conditions.
Mr Miles said Network Rail is also “struggling” to maintain its infrastructure because of inadequate funding, which is adding to cancellations.
Michael Solomon Williams, of pressure group Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Delays and cancellations erode passengers’ faith in the railways.
In November, then-transport secretary Louise Haigh said train operators have been asked to prepare for their performance statistics to be displayed at most stations to boost transparency.
“We are too over-reliant on rest day working and so that’s a big priority for me as we move into the new year.”
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A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said: “We know how much passengers rely on the railway and the importance of reliable and punctual services.
“Delays and cancellations can occur due to various factors like weather and flooding, industrial action, infrastructure issues such as track or signalling faults, train faults and external incidents such as trespass.
“When this happens, we are raising awareness of delay repay compensation to ensure passengers can easily claim what they are entitled to.”
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