Our performance
How we're performing
We know arriving at your destination on time is one of the most important things when travelling by train and here at Northern, we do everything we can to keep trains running on time. Unfortunately, delays do happen many of which are out of our control.
To ensure we remain transparent as a train operating company, we publish our performance figures for each railway reporting period so you can see how we're performing.
Recent performance
Recently, our performance and reliability have not been up to scratch and for that we are sorry.
We are very actively managing higher levels of staff sickness, and on Sundays, which rely on crews volunteering to work additional hours, we have seen a reduction in drivers making themselves available on parts of the network. In addition, the ongoing industrial relations issues have their own impact.
We are working hard with our colleagues and other train operators to improve service reliability.
To help understand the complexity of our network, visit our Keeping NORTHERN moving page.
Latest performance data
Northern services operated
| Services in the timetable | Services removed from the plan by Northern | Services planned | Services operated on the day |
| 66,778.5 | 2,105.5 | 64,673 | 58,814 |
‘Services removed from the plan’ (also known in the industry as P-coding) are planned changes to a timetable that can be made up to 10 pm the day before departure. They are used by the industry for a wide range of reasons including engineering works, strikes, shortage of traincrew and expectational circumstances like derailments that block routes for several days.
Northern network performance
| Short formed | All cancellations | On-time | Time to 3 | Time to 15 |
| 2,441 (4.1%) | 4,914 (7.6%) | 50% | 72.4% | 96.7% |
| Service group | Short formed | All cancellations | On-time | Time to 3 | Time to 15 | 30-59 | 60-119 | 120+ |
| Tyne, Tees & Wear | 88 2.1% | 438.5 9.2% | 52.5% | 73.0% | 95.6% | 35 0.7% | 6 0.1% | 0 0% |
| Lancashire & Cumbria Local | 85 2.1% | 418 8.9% | 58.0% | 78.3% | 97.3% | 12 0.3% | 2 0% | 0 0% |
| West & North Yorkshire Inter Urban | 649 7.3% | 844.5 8.5% | 36.7% | 60.4% | 94.8% | 98 1.0% | 8 0.1% | 0 0% |
| West & North Yorkshire Local | 313 2.9% | 845 7.3% | 50.5% | 74.9% | 97.9% | 32 0.3% | 2 0% | 0 0% |
| South & East Yorkshire Inter Urban | 62 1.4% | 613.5 12.2% | 54.5% | 75.2% | 97.4% | 18 0.4% | 4 0.1% | 0 0% |
| South & East Yorkshire | 216 6.1% | 618.5 14.6% | 56.4% | 76.8% | 96.4% | 30 0.7% | 2 0% | 0 0% |
| North Manchester | 359 7.9% | 245 5.0% | 53.8% | 74.2% | 97.3% | 19 0.4% | 1 0% | 1 0% |
| Merseyrail City Lines | 83 3.0% | 149 5.3% | 38.7% | 62.8% | 95.4% | 20 0.7% | 1 0% | 0 0% |
| South Manchester | 286 2.8% | 365.5 3.3% | 54.3% | 78.4% | 98.2% | 33 0.3% | 3 0% | 0 0% |
| Lancashire & Cumbria Inter Urban | 300 7.1% | 376 6.7% | 51.6% | 72.6% | 96.3% | 25 0.4% | 1 0% | 0 0% |
Unfortunately, things don't always go to plan. The following incidents caused significant delay and cancellations:
| 20 October | Flooding - Kirsktall Forge |
| 20 October | Flooding - Harrogate |
| 20 October | Tree on the line - Prudhoe |
| 20 October | Flooding - Rotherham Central |
| 20 October | Flooding - Kiveton Bridge |
The above incidents had a combined impact of 729 cancellations and 2,889 minutes delay which resulted in disruption to 926 Northern services.
Short Formed - Services run with less than the planned capacity
All cancellations - Services subject to cancellation (full/part)
On Time - Percentage of Recorded Station Stops called at on time or early
Time to 3 - Percentage of Recorded Station Stops called at within 3 minutes of the planned time
Time to 15 - Percentage of Recorded Station Stops called at within 15 minutes of the planned time
30-59 - Services arriving at the planned destination between 30 minutes and 59 minutes late
60-119 - Services arriving at the planned destination between 60 minutes and 119 minutes late
120+ - Services arriving at the planned destination more than 119 minutes late
Customer Promise P2408
Customer Promise P2408
Download Customer Promise P2408.pdf
file size 690.91kb
On Time Graph P2408
On Time Graph P2408
Download On Time Graph 2408.pdf
file size 4.59kb
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Streamline your journey and get tickets straight to your phone. Making your journey contact-free.