Avanti West Coast has been found to be the most unreliable train operator, according to data from the Office of Rail.
The service took over operations from Virgin Trains in 2019, and was found to cancel 14.9pc of services in the month from July 24, the worst of any train operator. The overall score for all services in that period was 4.9pc.
Strikes in disputes over jobs, pay and conditions have caused a surge of cancellations in recent months. Cancellations scores reflect the percentage of services that are either fully or part-cancelled.
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The industry’s cancellations score as a whole during the 12 months from August 2021 to August 2022 was 3.7pc.
Other operators which also had their poorest reliability for a four-week period include London North Eastern Railway (11.0%), East Midlands Railway (5.5%) and Grand Central (12.0%). Govia Thameslink Railway – which consists of Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express services – recorded its second worst cancellations score of 11.1%.
There have been calls for the operation of Avanti West Coast’s services to be taken into public ownership after the company slashed its timetable to reduce short-notice cancellations. A spokesman for the operator said: “We know we’re not delivering the service our customers rightly expect and we apologise for the enormous frustration and inconvenience.
“We remain committed to delivering the best possible service for our customers and the communities we serve. A shortage of staff, particularly drivers, who were willing to volunteer for overtime led to a marked increase in the number of short-notice cancellations, which we know are highly disruptive for customers.
“As a result, we reduced our timetable to ensure a more reliable service. This was not a decision we took lightly and we are now in the process of rebuilding the timetable in a sustainable and robust way without the reliance on overtime.”
Drivers’ union Alsef confirmed on Tuesday that its members at 12 companies will stage fresh strikes on October 1 and 5, affecting travel for delegates and visitors to the Conservative party conference in Birmingham.
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