Cancel data reveals region's worst-hit stations

Nearly 7,000 services to Sheffield were pulled over the course of a 12-month period

Sheffield had the highest rate of train cancellations among Yorkshire's busiest stations over a 12-month period, figures analysed by the BBC have revealed.

Nearly 7,000 stops at the city's main station were cancelled in the year to August - more than 4% of all scheduled services to Sheffield during that time.

It was the highest rate of the three Yorkshire stations among the 100 busiest in the country, according to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) data.

The data found Leeds and York - the other two busiest stations in the region - had nearly 15,000 cancellations out of 500,000 scheduled stops across both stations.

Leeds was ranked the 16th busiest station in the country, behind 12 London stations, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. Its percentage of cancelled services was 3%.

York - the 50th busiest - had a percentage of 2.7%.

Bradford Interchange, Halifax, Rotherham Central and New Pudsey in Leeds were among the worst-hit smaller stations, with at least 5% of services cancelled.

Speaking at Sheffield Station, Marie Boreham, 69, said she was dependent on the rail network as she did not drive and found cancellations "frustrating".

Marie Boreham said services should "definitely be more reliable"

"You're wasting time, it affects all of your day," she said.

"It should definitely be more reliable, you've come out for that train especially – it's wrong."

Nathaniel Chadwick said he regularly faced disruption between Bradford Interchange and Manchester on journeys to see his daughter.

"It's not ideal when they're cancelled, because she's only four and she goes to sleep early," Mr Chadwick, 41, said.

"They need to sort it out - either get a bigger station or get better services, because people do commute from Bradford to Manchester."

• Britain's worst major train stations for cancellations

He added: "You could be looking at the sack or a warning because you're late."

The previous government announced it had set aside £2bn for a new station in Bradford in late 2023, although a business case for the scheme was yet to be published.

Passenger Jabbar Ali, also from Bradford, said: "I have to set off a bit early and get an earlier train in case the next one's late or cancelled."

Nathaniel Chadwick said he was affected by cancellations while travelling from Bradford to Manchester

Matt Rice, Northern's chief operating officer, said: "We have been working hard to stabilise performance and cut cancellations in recent months.

"There are green shoots of progress, but we know more work needs to be done before we can deliver lasting improvements for our customers."

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We are determined to drive up standards across the railways, as we deliver the biggest overhaul of the railways in a generation."

Analysis - Spencer Stokes, BBC Yorkshire business and travel correspondent

Rail punctuality has improved in recent years in Yorkshire.

The two best performing train operators are Northern and LNER, who between April and June 2025 had cancellation rates of 3.3% and 2.1% respectively, according to the Office of Rail and Road.

TransPennine Express (TPE) has also seen big improvements in the last two years. At the start of 2023 around 40% of its services were being cancelled due to a shortage of driving staff.

TPE was brought under public control in May 2023 and an intensive training programme has seen punctuality and cancellation figures recover.

LNER, Northern and TPE are now run directly by the Department for Transport.

CrossCountry, which also operates services in the region, and East Midlands Railway remain privately operated - but will also be brought under public control.

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.