20 Dec 2024
Rail operator Govia Thameslink Railway have apologised for service failings which saw St Albans highlighted as one of the country’s worst for cancellations.
National Rail figures collected by train data website On Time Trains and published by the BBC said 6.8 per cent of scheduled stops at the station were cancelled between January and November this year.
Sometimes if trains are delayed, the operator may skip a station stop to get the service back on time, preventing delays spreading to other services across the network.
The Thameslink network is the most congested in the UK and the knock-on effect of one late train is felt right far and wide – and by taking quick action helps a late train catch up with its slot in the timetable and minimises the number of passengers disrupted overall.
GTR network operations and performance director Chris Fowler said: “We’re very sorry. We want to give our customers the best possible service. We have a performance improvement plan in place for St Albans and expect this to make things better.
“There are many reasons why trains can be cancelled. Some of these are outside our direct control, such as the knock-on impact of someone being hit by a train and issues with infrastructure such as signalling, power and track, and passengers taken ill. On 27 November, for example, Storm Connall saw flooding in the tunnels at Farringdon which, alone, led to 135 cancelled trains at St Albans. We do have direct influence on other issues such as train crew availability and we are working hard to address this.”
