Britain's most-cancelled train revealed, and it's a Northern Rail service

The worst-performing service was cancelled more than half of the time

By Nick Duffy Sunday, 8th March 2020, 3:38 pm Updated Sunday, 8th March 2020, 3:39 pm

A passenger stands in front of destination boards showing cancelled trains (Photo: Daniel Sorabji/AFP via Getty Images)

The most-cancelled train in Britain has been revealed.

The 7.13am Northern Rail service from Harrogate to Leeds has been cancelled on 28 out of 55 days since the introduction of new timetables in December, meaning that trains actually ran on the route just 49 per cent of the time.

Northern cancelled the most trains of any operator, according to analysis from ontimetrains.co.uk, with more than 5,700 services cancelled between 15 December and 22 February.

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Northern was brought into state ownership at the start of March, after the Government acted to strip the failing Arriva Rail North of the franchise.

The 8.12pm TransPennine Express service from Liverpool Lime Street to Preston racked up the second-highest number of cancellations, with 19 trains cancelled out of 47.

Perfect storm of disruption

Departure boards display a list of cancelled trains (Photo: Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

Disruption continued to be be a major problem across the entire rail network, with quarterly data from the Office of Rail and Road suggesting that 4.1 per cent of trains were cancelled across Britain - the highest number recorded.

Bruce Williamson, of the campaign group Railfuture, told The Times: “There has been a perfect storm of things going wrong on the railway, with poor management, flooding and faulty trains.

"It means disappointment and frustration for commuters.”

New era

Ministers have vowed to get Northern Rail back on track after it was taken into public ownership.

As part of the takeover, the government operator launched a new panel including regional leaders to advise on the operation of the service.

The Government has also announced work to tackle overcrowding, extend platforms, roll-out more electric trains, and carry out a "major deep cleaning program."

Speaking last week, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, said: "This is new era for rail in the North, but there will be no quick fix for the network as we build solutions for the future.

"[March] marks the beginning of rebuilding of trust in these services, and voices from the region will be essential as we work together to understand and deliver the improvements passengers need.