Wolverhampton to London train delays double over past year

Figures from Network Rail show a 108 per cent spike in delayed trains along the busy route from Wolverhampton to the nation’s capital – with trains more than four hours late in some cases.

The data, which was released under the Freedom of Information Act, shows that delays rocketed on trains from London to Wolverhampton from 99 in 2015-16 to 207 in 2017-18.

The worst case involved a train in June 2017 which was delayed by four hours and 15 minutes due to a trespasser on the track.

Lib Deb campaigners in the Black Country said the ‘shockingly-bad’ service was putting off visitors and potential investors from the region. The figures also gave reasons for the delays.

A total of 21 trains were held up due to broken tracks; on 10 occasions a passenger was ill; while on two occasions the reason was recorded as bridge hit.

Drunk passengers caused delays to nine trains, and 18 delays were down to trespassing on the line, including non-intentional trespassing.

"A further two cases were deemed by Network Rail to be down to cable vandalism or theft, while 71 cases were down to fatalities or injuries caused by people being hit by trains.

The figures showed that 31 trains were more than 100 minutes late and four were delayed by more than 200 minutes.

Wolverhampton Lib Dem campaigner Paul Butters said: “Like many others I travel to London regularly for work and some of the delays drive you round the bend. These figures are truly shocking.

“I cannot imagine what is like being stuck on a train for 200 minutes, doing nothing on a Friday night and all you want to do is get home. Wolverhampton needs be open for businesses but our figures show that the trains are holding us back.

“At the moment we face a big sign over the city saying train delayed. Being linked to London allows us to attract more well-paid jobs and further investment to our city.

“But to add insult to injury, rail travellers have just been slapped with the biggest price rise for five years.

“These rail companies cream in the profits and give little to nothing back – our research shows that many of these faults could and should be fixed.

“Network Rail and Virgin Trains need to crack on and fix them.”