Trains on the route from Manchester to London are among the most late in the country - but operator Virgin says it’s not their fault.

New figures show that one long-distance train in eight arrives at least 10 minutes late on the West Coast mainline.

And one in 23 trains on the route is either cancelled or arrives at least 30 minutes late - according to data from the rail watchdog.

But both Virgin Trains and passenger campaign group TravelWatch NorthWest lay the blame at the feet of Network Rail - for engineering works.

Chris Dale, chairman of the group, told the M.E.N: “The major problem they have got is the Network Rail and all the engineering works on the line that put their schedules completely up the wall half the time.

(Image: Mark Waugh)

“There are so many of them and it’s obviously affecting performance. When one part of the line is down the whole system falls apart. They try to get there on time but can’t really manage it.

“Of course there will be some problems caused by Virgin but I think the majority will be down to Network Rail and the works over-running - and Virgin can’t plan for that.”

And Virgin Trains agrees - blaming Network Rail for the majority of disruption.

A spokeswoman said: “The majority of delays to Virgin Trains West Coast services were caused by issues that are the responsibility of Network Rail and are out of our control.

Who is to blame for Virgin West Coast delays? (%) 69 Network Rail 14 Virgin 10 Other passenger operators 8 Other freight operators Government statistics

“Over the past year we were only responsible for 14 per cent of the delays to our services which is one of the best results in the industry. We are working hard to ensure that Network Rail improves performance for our customers.”

The figures show only 87.8 per cent of West Coast services hit a punctuality target of being no more than five minutes late (or no more than 10 minutes for long-distance trips) in April-June this year.

That is actually a significant IMPROVEMENT compared to the previous three months, when the figure was 84.9 per cent.

But it is still the third worst in the country, and the worst for long-distance operators.

Only Southern (85.2 per cent) and Govia Thameslink (87.3 per cent) had worse records.

(Image: Mark Waugh)

Virgin Trains West Coast also had the fourth-worst record when it came to major delays and cancellations, the figures showed.

A total of 4.3 per cent of services were either late by 30 minutes or more, or simply never left the station.

Again, that is an improvement on the 5.4 per cent the company recorded in January-March.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “The West Coast main line is the busiest mixed use railway in Europe carrying long distance, commuter and freight trains. Network Rail is directly responsible for around half of all delays as well as a further 17 per cent which are outside of our control such as fatalities, trespass and vandalism.

“Long-distance rail travel in Britain performs favourably compared with other major European railways but we are certainly not complacent. We will continue to invest in the route and work with our industry partners to improve the network and provide a better, more reliable service to passengers.”