MP says government 'needs to get a grip' as Lancaster Railway Station scores worst in country for train delays

Lancaster Railway Station has been ranked the worst in the country for delayed trains.
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According to new figures, Lancaster is one of Britain's 500 busiest railway stations and comes out on top of this list for late trains.

If you're boarding in Lancaster, there's a 63.5 per cent chance that your train will be late.

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Out of all 2,566 British rail stations, it ranks 253rd for lateness, when taking into account much smaller stations with fewer trains.

Lancaster Railway StationLancaster Railway Station
Lancaster Railway Station

Regardless, if you’re boarding in Lancaster, there’s a 63.5 per cent chance that your train will be late.

In comparison, Preston ranks 83rd for late trains, while Morecambe ranks 839th, with a 45 per cent chance of the train being late, and Carnforth ranks 723rd.

Lancaster MP Cat Smith said the government "need to get a grip on things".

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Commuter Rebecca Herissone, who regularly travels to Manchester from Lancaster, said that reliability over the last six months, particularly on TransPennine Express services, has deteriorated.

Lancaster Railway StationLancaster Railway Station
Lancaster Railway Station

She said: "You just never know if your train will arrive at all, and they never, ever get to their destinations on time. I sat on a train that was delayed for an hour and twenty minutes the other week, with not even an apology issued - I guess that’s just normal now."

The figures have been released by Rotacloud, which has produced a "train lateness tool", gathered from punctuality data between January 2019 and January 2020.

Lancaster Railway station is managed by Avanti West Coast, which also runs The West Coast Mainline after taking over the franchise from Virgin Trains last year.

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However, it is widely acknowledged that train delays are an industry wide problem, rather than that of a specific railway station.

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail said: “We know how frustrating delays can be which is why we’re doing more to tackle them from spending billions on major upgrades to ease congestion, to running public campaigns to reduce trespassing.

"So that passengers know the level of service they can expect, the rail industry has adopted the most rigorous to-the-minute measure of punctuality in Europe and has launched an online tool so people can check the past reliability of their specific train, not just their station.”

Lancaster MP Cat Smith said: “Regular rail users in Lancaster don’t need to be told that frequent delays blight our rail network, it is an issue I’ve been repeatedly raising with the Government who need to get a grip on things.

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“Alongside overcrowding and confusing ticket prices it can make using public transport a difficult or stressful experience it doesn’t need to be.

"As we need more people to use reliable public transport instead of private cars to address the climate emergency this should be taken more seriously by government by bringing them into public ownership and giving them proper investment for the future.”