One in every 38 West Midlands train services was fully or partially cancelled last year.

Analysis of figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) show that 423,384 passenger train services were scheduled in 2017/18.

Some 11,018 of those were fully or partially cancelled, the data shows.

That works out as one in every 29 services that were cancelled.

The ORR defines a “full” cancellation as happening when a train either never starts its journey, or stops before it gets halfway.

A “partial” cancellation happens when a train stops after covering more than half its journey, or misses out one or more stops.

The ORR data shows that Govia Thameslink has worst rate of cancellations in the UK.

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The franchise, which provides services across London, Cambridge, Brighton and Sevenoaks, saw one in every 23 of its planned 1.1 million
passenger train journeys fully or partially cancelled.

At the other end of the spectrum was Chiltern Railways.

Just one in every 83 passenger train services was cancelled across the network in 2017/18.

A West Midlands Railway train

There are 23 franchised train operators running on the UK’s railway system, which was privatised between 1994 and 1997.

It means operators can set their own fares without government regulation.

Train cancellations may often be beyond operators’ control, and could also be caused by infrastructure faults, severe weather, or trespassers.

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The situation for West Midlands trains is far worse than the national average.

There were 7.3 million scheduled passenger train services that should have run in 2017/18 - but 188,616 were fully or partially cancelled, or didn’t call at all their planned stops.

That works out as one in every 39 passenger train services that were cancelled.

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It is a rate that has worsened over time.

Modern records go back as far as 2014/15, when one in every 55 train services across the UK was cancelled.

Most - but not all - train companies operate a system known as “delay repay”, which means that passengers can get part or all of the money spent on their ticket refunded depending on if their train was cancelled or significantly delayed.

Most of the 23 train operators in the UK - including West Midlands Railway - are signed up to the scheme.

Train provider // Number of trains planned // Number cancelled // One in every X was cancelled

Govia Thameslink Railway // 1,141,500 // 49,872 // 23
Hull Trains // 4,541 // 157 // 29
TransPennine Express // 85,359 // 2,740 // 31
Great Western // 557,108 // 17,584 // 32
Grand Central // 6,321 // 198 // 32
South Western Railway // 581,606 // 16,517 // 35
West Midlands Trains // 423,384 // 11,018 // 38
Caledonian Sleeper // 2,130 // 55 // 39
CrossCountry // 101,891 // 2,544 // 40
Greater Anglia // 434,667 // 10,516 // 41
Virgin Trains East Coast // 52,434 // 1,228 // 43
TfL Rail // 83,289 // 1,910 // 44
ScotRail // 758,709 // 17,273 // 44
London Overground // 502,420 // 10,632 // 47
Southeastern // 640,918 // 13,506 // 47
Arriva Trains Wales // 329,834 // 6,378 // 52
Heathrow Express // 52,655 // 997 // 53
Northern // 845,769 // 14,266 // 59
c2c // 125,172 // 2,111 // 59
Virgin Trains West Coast // 102,847 // 1,483 // 69
East Midlands Trains // 159,519 // 2,091 // 76
Merseyrail // 210,045 // 2,612 // 80
Chiltern Railways // 141,794 // 1,704 // 83