Rail passengers travelling to and from Huddersfield station have been the most likely to see their plans thwarted by cancellations, according to an analysis of Great Britain’s trains.
More than 5,500 trains due to serve the West Yorkshire town in 2023 were cancelled, about one in eight services, research for the BBC has found.
Located at the heart of the failing TransPennine Express network between Manchester and Leeds, Huddersfield became a Bermuda Triangle of missing trains as the operator struck out swathes of services using p-code or “ghost” cancellations the night before they were due to run.
BBC analysis of data collated by On Time Trains found other stations in the north suffering the worst cancellation rates after Huddersfield, with 10% of trains for Manchester Victoria axed and 9% of those due to stop at York, Newcastle and Manchester Oxford Road, up to 31 July this year.
The stations are all served by TransPennine Express, which was taken under state control in May this year due to its poor performance.
Chris Jackson, the interim TPE managing director, told the BBC that the operator had since “seen improvements in performance and made real progress in rebuilding union relationships on a local level”.
Drivers had been refusing to work overtime but were now working on rest days again, helping bring the cancellation rates at Huddersfield down to 3.5%, according to TPE.
The figures also showed that only about half of all trains across Britain ran exactly on time, with 3% cancelled and 41% at least one minute late.
Trains services have been affected by issues including infrastructure failings and the national strikes.
The Campaign for Better Transport said the rates of cancellations were “unacceptable” and deterring people from train travel. Its director, Paul Tuohy, said: “The government and industry need to sort this out and ensure services run to schedule so that passengers can travel with confidence.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Ministers have been clear with operators they need to deliver punctual services, keeping delays to a minimum.
“To help make our railways more reliable, it’s crucial unions agree to reforms that will modernise the industry.”
A spokesperson for the industry body the Rail Delivery Group said: “The rail industry is working hard to make sure that customers have reliable and punctual train services. This includes significant investment to improve infrastructure and rolling stock reliability.
“The ongoing national dispute involving the rail unions has caused disruption to services both on strike days and on the days either side of them, but operators have tried to run as many services as possible.”
The public consultation over one of the central issues in the rail dispute, the closure of station ticket offices in England, received more than 680,000 responses, it was revealed on Monday.
Watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch said it was an “incredible response” to the consultation, which closed on Friday. Concerns were raised around accessibility, safety and security, ticket machines and station staffing. The organisations will review all the answers by the end of next month to address the train operators’ proposals.
