Passengers on UK’s ‘least reliable’ train operator face average delays of 11 MINUTES

Rail passengers on the ‘least reliable’ UK train operator face delays of up to 11 minutes on average.

Avanti West Coast trains rank as the UK’s least reliable train operator, according to a study.

An analysis of new data from the Office of Rail and Road between August 2024 and August 2025.

It evaluated 20 UK rail operators on their punctuality, percentage of cancelled trains, and average passenger delays to create a performance score out of 100.

Avanti comes in last, with passengers facing average delays of 10.61 minutes.

Plus only 38.90 per cent of trains from this line are on time.

Avanti also has a cancellation rate of 3.98 per cent.

Other train lines ranked as poor performers include CrossCountry, which came in second with average delays of 6.10 minutes.

Rail passengers on the ‘least reliable’ UK train operator face delays of up to 11 minutes on average 

Great Western Railway came in third, with an average of 6.57 minutes, and a 3.75 per cent cancellation rate.

Meanwhile, train lines with the most reliable services included Greater Anglia, c2c and Chiltern Railways.

Greater Anglia took the top spot with a performance score of 97.16 out of 100. 

The operator scored well for punctuality with 83.81 per cent of trains arriving within 59 seconds of their scheduled time, while passengers experienced average delays of just 1.37 minutes. 

Meanwhile, train lines with the most reliable services included Greater Anglia, c2c and Chiltern Railways.

Roberto Romanello from Bet Clever, who undertook the study, said: ‘These statistics show significant differences in the reliability of train services across the UK.  Passengers on the worst-performing routes face more than five times the delays compared to the best services. 

‘With train fares continuing to rise each year, passengers have every right to expect punctual services.’

He added: ‘The stark contrast between operators suggests that reliability issues cannot simply be blamed on infrastructure alone, as some operators clearly manage to maintain much better performance than others on the same rail network.’ 

Avanti comes in last, with passengers facing average delays of 10.61 minutes

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said: ‘Over half of delays during this period were a result of factors such as infrastructure, weather or trespass. In response to these issues, we have developed a joint performance plan with Network Rail which has had a positive impact.

‘We have also seen the overall figure for cancellations more than halve compared to this time last year with the ORR recently reporting this was the largest improvement compared to other train operators. Operator responsible cancellations for the first four weeks in April were also the lowest they have been in three years.

‘We recognise that there is still more needs that to be done in terms of our performance and we are working closely with industry partners, including Network Rail, to make sure our operation continues to run better, day in day out and our customers get the more reliable service they deserve.’

Chiltern Railways rounded out the top three most reliable operators with a score of 86.39 – and average delays of just 2.35 minutes. It was followed by ScotRail in fourth at 81.40 and Merseyrail in fifth at 79.46. 

These operators all saw average passenger delays under 2.5 minutes and had cancellation rates below 2.1 per cent.