68 per cent of Warrington trains delayed or cancelled

According to the website On Time Trains - which tracks data from sources such as Network Rail - Warrington's stations have not performed favourably in the past 12 weeks.

Almost 70 per cent of all trains in Warrington were cancelled or delayed in the last 12 weeks (Image: Newsquest)

Across three months, no rail station in Warrington had more than 37 per cent of trains show up on time.

Averaged across all seven stations, an average of 67.9 per cent of all rail journeys in Warrington were delayed or cancelled.

As per On Time Trains, Warrington's stations were ranked compared to all stations in the country:

• Glazebrook - 2,110 out of 2,616 (bottom 20 per cent)
• Sankey for Penketh - 2,200 out of 2,616 (bottom 16 per cent)
• Padgate - 2,248 out of 2,616 (bottom 15 per cent)
• Bank Quay - 2,359 out of 2,616 (bottom 10 per cent)
• Birchwood - 2,465 out of 2,616 (bottom six per cent)
• Central - 2,480 out of 2,616 (bottom six per cent)
• West - 2,486 out of 2,616 (bottom five per cent)

Warrington Bank Quay was ranked in the bottom 10 per cent of the country's stations (Image: Newsquest)

In terms of stations with the highest volume of trains on time:

• Glazebrook - 37 per cent
• Central - 36 per cent
• Bank Quay - 35 per cent
• Birchwood - 30 per cent
• Padgate - 29 per cent
• West - 29 per cent
• Sankey for Penketh - 29 per cent

Of Warrington's seven stations, Northern operates all except Warrington Bank Quay.

When asked about the figures for the last 12 weeks, Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “We recognise that the rail network across the north has not performed as well as we'd have liked, and we are sorry for the disruption and inconvenience caused.

“We are actively managing higher levels of staff sickness, and on Sundays, which rely on crews volunteering to work additional hours, we have seen a reduction in drivers making themselves available on parts of the network.

"In addition, the ongoing industrial relations issues have their own impact.

“We are working hard with our colleagues and other train operators to improve service reliability.

“We remain transparent as a train operating company, and we publish our performance figures online.”

Glazebrook station had the highest percentage of services running on time (Image: Friends of Glazebrook Station)

Avanti West Coast operates Warrington Bank Quay; the rail service operator directed queries to the Rail Delivery Group.

A spokesperson for the group told the Warrington Guardian: "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.

“Services can be cancelled or delayed due to a variety of causes, including adverse weather, infrastructure issues such as track or signalling faults, train faults and external incidents such as trespass.

"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."

They added: "We have seen 3.24 per cent cancellations between January 1 and July 31 2023, compared to 3.66 per cent during the same period last year.

“We know how important reliability is to our customers and apologise to everyone affected by cancelled services.”

Though Avanti did not wish to comment on this directly, but provided the following information: "While Avanti West Coast manage Warrington Bank Quay, other train operators (Northern and Transport for Wales) serve the station and are responsible for the punctuality and reliability of their services.

"Our staff at Warrington Bank Quay work hard to keep customers informed during disruption and assist those who may be affected by delays and cancellations to enable them to complete their journey.

"If a customer’s journey with Avanti West Coast has been delayed by 15 minutes or more they may be entitled to 'Delay Repay' compensation."