Penrith and Oxenholme among the worst five railway stations for reliability
Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has written to the Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, urging her to intervene over poor rail services in Cumbria.
It comes as shocking new data from On Time Trains has found that Oxenholme (2,635th) and Penrith (2,637th) are both ranked in the bottom five of Great Britain’s 2,639 railway station for reliability over the past 12 weeks.
Tim also raised the dire situation during a debate in Parliament today on the future of the West Coast Mainline.
Speaking in Westminster Hall, Tim said: “On reliability, there are, I understand, 2639 railway stations in the United Kingdom. The fifth least reliable is Oxenholme. The third least reliable is Penrith.
“They have got one thing in common, apart from they serve my constituency, but also they’re north of Preston.
“Avanti have a habit, if there's anything wrong with the line north of Preston, everything stops at Preston, even if it's in Scotland. That is wrong.
“Whilst that is a decision that Avanti take, and they should be rightly held to account for it, it's also the case that it's not all their fault.
“It's often down to the fact the rail track itself is not properly maintained and there's not been enough investment in it.
“That should be a priority for this government.”