Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the percentages of total delays on the West Coast Main Line caused by (1) mechanical failure, (2) infrastructure failure, and (3) staff problems.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes data on train delays, which can be publicly accessed through their data portal. The ORR also reports the causes of these delays by operator. Given that multiple operators provide services on the West Coast Main Line, it is not possible to isolate the causes of delays occurring specifically on this route.

However, data on the delay causes for Avanti West Coast, the primary operator of intercity services on the West Coast Main Line, for the last 12 months for which data is available is set out in the attached document.

(1) Mechanical failure - 18% of Avanti West Coast delay minutes were attributed to ‘Fleet’, either the TOC’s own or that of another operator.

(2) Infrastructure failure - 64% of Avanti West Coast delay minutes were attributed to ‘Network Rail’ including track, and network Management.

(3) Staff Problems - 8% of Avanti West Coast delay minutes were attributed to ‘Traincrew’ either the TOC’s own or that of another operator.