Train passengers in Britain still facing record number of cancellations
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Figure reached 4% in 12 months to 9 November, analysis shows, double the rate recorded in 2015. Train passengers in Britain are still facing record levels of disruption, with 4% of services cancelled in the last 12 months, analysis shows. More than 400,000 services were either fully or partly cancelled in the year to 9 November, with passengers in northern England bearing the brunt of the disruption, according to data from the regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).
Most services, 368,843, were cancelled on the day, while 33,209 were “p-coded” or “pre-cancelled”, meaning trains were pulled from timetables by 10pm the previous evening. The figures show how far Britain’s railways still need to travel to restore reliability, despite moves to improve and integrate operations, and the eventual resolution of a bitter two-year pay dispute this summer.
The industry measure the ORR uses, the moving annual average, surpassed 4% for the first time in October, more than double the rate of cancellations recorded in 2015. The worst performing company was Northern, which cancelled 8% of its services, including pre-cancellations. Avanti West Coast cancelled 7.8% of its services and CrossCountry 7.4%.
Commuters in the south also suffered in the later months of 2024. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which operates Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern services to and from London, recorded the second-highest cancellation rate in the latest 12 weeks of data.
