NORTHERN has apologised for its service on the Furness Line and the Coast Line after figures revealed stations in Cumbria are many of the worst-performing in the country. 

The rail operator blamed the performance on strikes and staff sickness. 

Northern operates the Furness Line service from Lancaster to Barrow, and the Cumbrian Coast Line service from Barrow to Carlisle.

'On Time Trains' is a website that collects public data on delays and cancellations from the last 12 weeks and then ranks stations in England, Wales and Scotland from best to worst. 

The best-performing station on the line is Barrow-in-Furness, ranking it 2,037th best out of 2,619 stations.

This puts Barrow in the bottom quarter of the ranked stations for performance, with only 57 per cent of trains on time, eight per cent five to nine minutes late, seven per cent more than 10 minutes late and 13 per cent cancelled. 

The worst-performing station on the Furness Line was Kents Bank, which ranked 2,542nd, followed closely by Arnside at 2,541st. At Kents Bank, only 16 per cent of trains are on time, with 41 per cent of trains at least three minutes late and 12 per cent cancelled.

According to the figures, Kents Bank is also one of the least-used stations as there was an average number of entries/exits per day of only 69 in 2023. 

Dalton was ranked 2,443rd, Roose 2,457th and Ulverston 2,484th. On the Cumbrian Coast Line, St Bees was the worst-performing station at 2,475th. Busier Whitehaven was 2,323rd, Millom 2,187th and Sellafield 2,297th. 

READ MORE: Northern urged to improve 'abysmal' train services in Furness

Derek Faulds, from Furness Line Action Group, said: "Northern keeps saying we're doing our best - it doesn't really seem to be getting any better. 

"If you need to get up the coast to Whitehaven or Lancaster and you haven't got a car you use the train because we don't have the bus service."

Craig Harrop, regional director for Northern, said: “Our services continue to be affected by high levels of traincrew sickness and ongoing industrial relations issues including strikes and overtime bans. I can only apologise for the impact these issues have on our overall performance in Cumbria.

“We regularly publish details of our performance online at northernrailway.co.uk/performance and I am pleased to say that cancellation rates have reduced since early January 2024. Indeed, during the latest four-week reporting period - covering 7 January to 3 February - over 94 per cent of services from Barrow-in-Furness and Windermere to Manchester Airport, which are key routes for the region, operated as planned.”