Wrexham railway stations rank poorly: Four out of five in bottom 500 for delays and cancellations

Four of Wrexham’s five train stations are languishing in the bottom 500 in the UK for poor service and lateness – with Chirk inside the bottom 50.

Data collected over the last three months shows Chirk is the worst station in the county borough for service reliability, ranking 2,592nd out of 2,636 stations across Britain according to data collected by the On Time Trains website.

Over the last 12 weeks only 22% of the 2,864 services expected at Chirk were on time. Another 22% were 10 minutes or more late and 10% were cancelled.

Ruabon was not far behind, ranked 2,583rd with 25% of services on time and 10% cancelled.

Wrexham General fared better, with 31% of its 6,547 services running to timetable and 9% cancelled as it came in at 2,366th – still within the bottom 500.

Gwersyllt was the borough’s other poor performer with 33% of services sticking to their time and only 6% cancelled.

Wrexham Central stood out, ranking in the mid-range at 1,616th with 49% of trains arriving on time – although 8% of services were cancelled there.

A Transport for Wales spokesperson said: “We know when trains are delayed or cancelled this can cause significant inconvenience for customers and we would like to apologise for this.

“Whilst there have been several issues in the last few months, storms Darragh and Bert did have a huge impact on Wales and the western side of the UK, leaving lines blocked by trees, debris and flooding.

“Working with our partners in Network Rail we had multiple speed restrictions in place and recently the route between Wrexham and Shrewsbury has been closed for a number of days due to a landslip.

“We understand the importance of the Wrexham line to the local community and have introduced brand new and newly refurbished trains onto the route, as well as dedicated team to improve performance. This resulted in a significant improvement in punctuality and reliability, as well as growth in the number of passengers using our services.

“In the year to September 2024, the Wrexham-Bidston Borderlands Line saw 60,000 extra passenger journeys made and a 27% increase in trains arriving on time.

“We continue to look at measures to improve performance and reliability for our customers both at a local and national level, with workshops set up to deliver this in partnership with Network Rail.”

By Alec Doyle – BBC Local Democracy Reporter