Yorkshire’s train operators slammed by consumer watchdog over delays

Yorkshire’s rail operators are some of the worst in the UK for delays and cancellations according to findings from Which?, the consumer watchdog.

Which? found that across the whole of the UK, passengers lost 3.9m hours in delays. It said 2018 was a “lamentable” year for delays and cancellations, the latter of which averaged 660 a day.

It also highlighted some of the worst performing train operators in the UK, surveying 14 operators in total.

Of these, Transpennine Express, which runs the route between Leeds and Manchester, was found to be one of the worst, along with Govia Thameslink Railway. Which? found that the two combined accounted for 37% of all the cancelled trains in 2018, amounting to 89,178 cancellations between them.

It said that one in ten services on the Transpennine Express routes were cancelled last year.

Robert Nisbet, regional director of the Rail Delivery Group which represents the railway, said: “We know that services on some routes weren’t good enough last year and rail companies are working together to improve punctuality and tackle delays across the country.

“Train companies want to make it simple and easy for customers to claim compensation if they’ve experienced a delay. Half of the franchises managed by the DfT pay compensation after 15 minutes and some operators have introduced automatic refunds, helping claims to increase by 80% over the last two years.”

LNER (formerly Virgin East Coast until June 2018) which runs the route between the north and London, had the highest significant delay rates of their planned services – coming in at 5%.

An LNER spokesperson, said: “We recognise 2018 proved a challenging year for punctuality. We are currently seeing an improvement in our performance and have now started introducing a fleet of 65 state-of-the-art Azuma trains, replacing the existing fleet of 45 trains. The new Azuma bi-mode trains will be much more reliable and will help us to continue improving our punctuality as well as provide a great service for our customers.”

Meanwhile, Northern, which runs regional and local routes across the north, accounted for 12% of all significantly late trains and 14% of all cancellations in 2018. It suffered numerous strikes by its staff which halted and reduced services frequently throughout the year.

Northern responded to the report, saying that the findings from Which? were unverified, and did not include services that were reinstated following delays or cancellations.

A spokesperson for Northern said: “During the past year we operated around 866,000 services, carrying 100 million people on journeys across the North.

“The figures show that more than 96% of our services ran as planned, with 1.8% fully cancelled over the 12 month period. Our cancelled and seriously delayed rates are below the national average.

“Many of those cancellations were as a result of the introduction of the new timetable in May last year and, together with colleagues across the industry, we have worked hard to improve performance through the rest of 2018 and into 2019.

“Running trains is complex and many factors outside our control, such as mechanical issues, track/signal failings, weather conditions and emergency services incidents, can result in cancellations. We strive to keep the impact of such issues to a minimum and our focus is always on delivering the best possible service for our customers.”

The consumer champion’s findings come as the rail industry rolls out its latest summer timetable which aims to introduce 1,000 extra services per week across the country.

Currently passengers claim for only a third (34%) of journeys where money is owed for delays and cancellations, said Which? calling on the government to ensure fully automatic compensation for delays and cancellations across the network.

Neena Bhati, Which? Head of Campaigns, said: “Passengers have faced a torrid time on the trains since the beginning of last year where the rail industry has fundamentally failed on punctuality and reliability. People then face a messy and complex compensation system which puts them off claiming when things go wrong.

“A vital way the government’s rail review and industry can start to restore faith is by introducing automatic compensation for delays and cancellations so that passengers don’t have to fight to get the money they are owed.”

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