RUNCORN and Widnes' trains are less reliable than those of war-torn Ukraine.

We can reveal that Runcorn and Widnes' respective stations run a significantly less reliable service than that across Ukraine.

Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, their train service has remained consistent and reliable, going viral last month due to their stats for the first month of January.

This, however, is not simply an outlier of one day. From August of 2022 to December of 2022, Ukraine’s train service ran with 16% of departures being five or more minutes late, and 20% of arrivals, combining for 18% of trains late over the three-month period.

According to OnTimeTrains, over the last 6 months, 26% of Runcorn trains and 31% of Widnes trains were more than five minutes late.

Runcorn and Widnes World:

Ukraine’s trains, whilst operating in a brutal war, are far more reliable than those operating in Runcorn and Widnes.

Of this, there are some shocking stats on cancellations, with more than 1 in 10 (11%) of Widnes trains being cancelled.

Runcorn and Widnes World:

Both stations rank in roughly the bottom 20% of stations across the UK. Out of 2624 stations across the country, Runcorn ranked 2161st, and Widnes ranked 2490th across the UK. 

This places Widnes in the bottom 6% of stations. 

Mike Amesbury, MP for Weaver Vale which covers East Runcorn, said: "I’m receiving regular complaints about problems with the local rail service. For example, I recently got in touch with Transport for Wales after Runcorn resident ‘Geoff’ complained the 7.11am Runcorn East to Manchester commuter service was frequently late, ranging from a few minutes to more than 20 minutes.

“The current level of service is clearly not good enough. It’s something I continue to raise as a Member of Parliament, including in my new role as a member of the Transport Select Committee. 

“We were recently informed train cancellations are costing the northern economy an estimated £8 million per week, adding up to a staggering £400 million-plus per year!

“Post-pandemic things needs to be better. Improvements are coming down the line in terms of new rolling stock, training and infrastructure but the deadlines keep changing. I will continue to hold train operators’ feet to the fire to provide the best services for my constituents.”     

A spokesperson for TransPenine express, one of the main companies operating out of Warrington commented on the issue. “We are committed to the communities we serve and want to assure our customers that we are doing all we can to deliver a train service they can rely on.

“Prolonged disruption to our services has been caused by a combination of very high levels of sickness and a training backlog following the pandemic, which have led to us needing to remove services from our timetable on a day-to-day basis through pre-planned cancellations.

“Our customers want, and deserve, reliable and punctual train services, and we are sorry we have not been able to consistently provide that due to the ongoing issues. TPE’s team continues to work flat-out to deliver higher levels of service delivery and to tackle the issues that are being experienced by customers.”