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Rail chiefs were today accused of stranding commuters by “skipping” stations more often to avoid trains being late.

MPs today highlighted the growing fury of commuters waiting on platforms who see their train go past rather than stopping as scheduled.

Some passengers have been unable to get off their train after failing to hear announcements that it is no longer stopping at their station.

Official figures reveal a huge rise in the number of part-cancellations, which includes “skipping” trains, in the past two years.

On Southeastern services, they jumped from 1,651 in the second quarter of 2013/14 to 2,804 in the same period for 2015/16, according to the Office of Rail Regulation.

At Govia Thameslink Railway — which includes Southern, Great Northern and Thameslink — they spiral- led from 4,148 to 6,732.

Conservative MP Chris Philp, of Croydon South, said: “Commuters on the Brighton main line are furious that stations are frequently missed out and they are left standing on the platform watching their train shoot past, often without notification.”

For Stagecoach South Western Trains, which includes South West Trains, part-cancellations increased from 1,638 to 2,248 for the second quarter of 2015/16, though this was slightly lower than the same period in 2014/15 when the figure was 2,284.

Kingston and Surbiton Tory MP James Berry said: “Passengers who pay high fares —often only for the chance to stand on a packed train — rightly expect the trains will be punctual.

“However, the train operating companies’ solution can’t simply be skipping stations to make up for delays.”

Govia said “skipping stations” lets delayed trains “catch up” and recover their slot in the timetable. “It’s never a decision taken lightly and only done at times of disruption so that fewer passengers are delayed overall,” it added.

“Any train that skips a station counts as an immediate punctuality failure so we have nothing to gain from this practice. The overriding concern is to recover the published timetable as quickly as possible.”

Southeastern and Network Rail emphasised that during periods of disruption it was “sometimes necessary” to run trains fast to their destinations to avoid delaying other trains and even larger numbers of people.

South West Trains emphasised that its services run to its published timetable unless there are “specific extenuating circumstances”.

But it added: “However, during periods of disruption, we may have to change stopping points ... to reduce the impact of problems and ensure as few passengers as possible are inconvenienced.”

The Department for Transport said: “When a train service is running significantly late, operators can decide not to call at stations in exceptional circumstances in order to prevent major knock-on delays on the rail network, but we are absolutely clear that this should only be done when there is no other solution.”

'My train skipped six stops because it was late'

Musician Robin Hare says his Southeastern train was ordered to skip six stops because the service was running seven minutes late.

Hare was travelling on the Charing Cross to Hastings line and had bought a return from Stonegate in East Sussex.

Mr Hare, 63, said: “There was an announcement saying the train was running late and they would cut out six smaller stations after Tunbridge Wells.

“I was incensed. I went to the guard and he said he’d just received information from the Tunbridge Wells crew and showed me the order. I got off at Wadhurst and had to wait an hour for a bus.

“By the time I’d got back to collect my car and then got home I was well over two hours late.”

Other passengers on Mr Hare’s train struggled to get a mobile signal to alert the people picking them up. Mr Hare said: “It disrespects the passenger. When you buy a ticket you enter into a contract, it’s a two-way thing — you pay the money and expect to have the service delivered.

“It’s unethical. You can’t just dump a whole bunch of passengers unexpectedly, you expect to be taken back to the station you started from.”