Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled due to staff shortages in each year since 2015; and whether she has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of those cancellations.

The Department does not hold a complete historical dataset of cancellations specifically attributed to staff shortages dating back to 2015. However, Network Rail collects management information on the percentage of trains cancelled due to traincrew issues. Network Rail has granted permission for this data to be shared, and these figures are presented in Table 1 alongside the annual cancellations score for context.

The ‘Annual cancellation score’ represents the average cancellation score for each year covering all causes of cancellations. The ‘Cancellations resulting from Traincrew issues’ represents the average cancellations specifically attributable to traincrew-related issues.

Table 1: Annual Average of Train Cancellations and Cancellations as a result of Traincrew Issues in Great Britain (2014/15 to 2024/25)

Source: Network Rail and ORR Table 3124 Trains planned and cancellations by operator and cause (periodic)

Notes:

1. Comparable data for annual cancellations is only available from 2019/20.
2. Figures exclude trains removed from the timetable due to industrial action.
3. Figures are Moving Annual Average (MAA) which reflect the proportion of trains cancelled in the past 12 months.
   

The Department has not made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of cancellations due to traincrew shortages. The Department has been working closely with the industry to increase the number of train drivers. Network Rail report that the proportion of trains cancelled because of traincrew issues has fallen from 1.19% in the year to January 2025 to 0.85% in the year to September (rail period 8). Network Rail report this is the lowest proportion of trains cancelled due to traincrew issues (MAA) in nearly 4 years.