A million minutes of rail passenger delays due to signal failures 

EMBARGO: 00.01 Monday 12th August

• Passengers have lost 988,419 minutes to train delays due to signal failures since 2018/19

• Journeys have been disrupted by over a thousand signal failures just this year 

• There have been nearly 15,000 cancellations since 2018/19 due to signal failures 

• Liberal Democrats call for passengers to be put at the heart of infrastructure and investment decisions as well as an immediate freeze on rail fares to stop passengers paying more for a poor service

Liberal Democrats have slammed the state of British railways as new figures from Network Rail reveal passengers have been blighted by thousands of cancellations and delays as a result of signal failures in recent years.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by the Liberal Democrats to Network Rail has revealed that passengers spent nearly a million minutes waiting for delayed trains due to signal failures since 2018/19. That is the equivalent of 686 days or almost two full years worth of delays due to signal failures.

Just this year, commuters have already wasted nearly 40,000 minutes waiting for late trains to arrive, contending with over a thousand signal failures on their journeys. Passengers eager to make it to their destination were delayed by 190,000 minutes because of faulty signals in the last financial year, one of the largest for delays. 

The constant interruptions to passenger journeys are a result of the 37,000 signal failures that have occurred since 2018/19. These failures meant nearly 15,000 journeys were cancelled - 10,078 partial cancellations and 4,266 full cancellations.

The Liberal Democrats have criticised the state of British railways left by the Conservatives, demanding fares be frozen for passengers to stop them paying more for an already poor service and that passengers are put at the heart of decisions about infrastructure and investment.

Liberal Democrat Transport spokesperson, Wera Hobhouse MP said: 

“Passengers have put up with years of unacceptable delays and extortionate rail fares. They are forced to pay through the nose for a service that they cannot rely on.

“These damning figures lay bare the state of neglect that the Conservative party left our railways in, leaving passengers to pay the price.

“With thousands of signal failures, it is clear that our rail infrastructure is not delivering for passengers who rely on these services just to go about their everyday lives. 

“That is why it's time to put passengers first and ensure services run smoothly so they no longer have to suffer these damaging delays. Passengers should also not be forced to pay more for a service that is simply not working which is why we need an immediate freeze on rail fares.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors: 

The Freedom of Information data provided by Network Rail, revealed by the Liberal Democrats can be found below for each financial year since 2018/19. Date of FOI received for ‘2024/25 (to date)’ was 26th June.