Shadow transport minister claims railways have ‘gone from bad to worse’ with highest cancellation figures since 2016
: Ben Stansall/AFP
A train is cancelled around every 90 seconds, the shadow transport minister has said after analysis of the latest official figures.
Around 87,000 services out of 1.78 million scheduled between September and December last year were partially or fully cancelled, according to the Office of Road and Rail (ORR).
This equates to one train cancellation every 91 seconds – the worst figure on record since 2016, when the current method for counting cancellations was introduced.
Part and fully-cancelled trains are given a score by the ORR, with the scores added up to give an overall percentage of cancelled trains.
In the final three months of 2023, a total of 4.87 per cent of all trains were cancelled.
Analysis of the ORR figures was raised by Stephen Morgan in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
: Geography Photos/Universal Images Group Editorial
He said: “In the five years since the Government first admitted that reform of our railways was needed, passenger services have gone from bad to worse, with now a train cancelled every 90 seconds – the worst statistics on record.
“With the Transport Secretary openly admitting that any reforms this side of an election are unlikely, does the minister understand why passengers have given up on this Government doing anything to improve their rail experience?”
Huw Merriman, the transport minister, replied “I just do not agree with that assertion” before arguing passenger numbers have doubled post-privatisation, adding: “We’ve seen £100 billion invested in the railways by this Government since 2010.
: James Manning/PA
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