Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast and London North Eastern Railway provide some of the most unreliable train services in the UK, new research has found.
Two of the top five most unreliable train franchises in Britain have since had their operator’s contracts stripped, with control returning to the Department for Transport (DfT).
Transpennine Express, which was run by First Group up until May 2023, was named the most unreliable operator after it was found that 7.95% of its train journeys between 2018 and 2022 had been cancelled.
Only 57% of its trains arrived on time during the four years, data compiled by compensation experts Claims.co.uk added.
FirstGroup PLC (LSE:FGP) was stripped of its contract by Mark Harper, the transport secretary, last year after “months of commuters and Northern businesses bearing the brunt of continuous cancellations.”
The London-listed company also runs Avanti West Coast, which ranked second worst, with 7.58% of trains cancelled and only 43.5% arriving on time.
London North Eastern Railway, which has been run by the DfT since 2018, was third worst after 6.81% of its trains were cancelled and 37.1% failed to arrive on time.
Other poor-ranking operators include Caledonian Sleeper, Govia Thameslink Railway and West Midlands Trains.
CrossCountry, which is run by Arriva, had the highest number of late trains – behind only Avanti West Coast – with only 48% of its services arriving on time.
“Numerous factors can explain why trains end up delayed or cancelled; these range from infrastructure issues to weather and seasonal issues,” a spokesperson for Claims.co.uk said.
“The data revealed train faults were this operator's most common cause of delays. This could range from doors being unable to lock or PA system faults.”
TransPennine Express is reported to have experienced 1,075 train faults during the four-year period.