Worst rail firms cancel 800 trains per day ahead of Christmas travel nightmare

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1. Engineering works and expensive rail replacement buses look set to add to passengers’ misery this Christmas

   Britain’s ten worst train companies are cancelling almost 800 services a day as travellers face chaos on the rail network over the Christmas holidays.

   Passengers have been warned rail misery will ramp up over the festive period, with London NorthWestern Railway urging people to avoid trains from Christmas Eve to 2 January and Great Western Railway telling passengers not to bring “massive suitcases” because of reduced services and seats.

   Those who need to take rail replacement bus services due to engineering works are also being quoted prices as high as £90 to make the slow journey home for Christmas.

   The [performance of firms including Avanti](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/avanti-first-rail-firm-nationalisation-labour-3175849?ico=in-line_link), Northern and CrossCountry has come under fierce criticism over the past 12 months, with all three having been criticised by the Government over “unacceptable” delays and cancellations.

   However, despite anger over services, rail fares in England are set to rise above inflation by 4.6 per cent next year and train company bosses have continued to receive bumper pay and bonuses.

   Avanti – which operates the West Coast Main Line between London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow – part-cancelled or fully cancelled 8,192 trains between November 2023 and November 2024, an average of 22 per day and more than 9 per cent of its planned services.

   In 2019, when the franchise was operated by Virgin, the average number of trains cancelled stood at nine per day.

   Northern, which has been under public control since 2020, cancelled 74,561 services over the 12-month period, the equivalent of 204 trains per day.

   In 2019, the operator was cancelling 111 trains per day.

   CrossCountry is worst performing operator in Britain, having cancelled 8,534 trains in the past year, more than 10 per cent of its services.

   The average rate of cancellations across all 24 train operators in Britain was 5 per cent, the equivalent of more than 1,000 trains per day.

   Passengers have said they are being forced onto the roads by high levels of cancellations and called on the rail industry to tackle staff shortages and crumbling infrastructure to provide a more reliable service.

2. Not surprised in the slightest to see TFW on the list.

3. But it’s all going to be wonderful once everything is Nationalised, again.

4. I didn’t know we even had 800 trains a day.

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