RAIL delays affecting its team led a York-based tech company to take a closer look at the reliability of all trains and stations in Great Britain - with some surprising results.

Using data sourced by a Freedom of Information request from Network Rail, RotaCloud analysed the punctuality data, including the 500 busiest stations (those with more than 50,000 train stops).

The results reveal the country’s best and worst stations for late-running services - with York coming in 15th in the top 20 worst performing locations, with 57 per cent of trains being late.

And RotaCloud's new tool shows localised data for every station in Great Britain so you can now see the total percentage of late trains for all 2,566 railway stations in England, Scotland and Wales.

Visit https://rotacloud.com/departurebored/ to see how likely trains in your area are to be late.

The biggest finding is that more than a third of all trains are late.

Lancaster is the worst-performing station with only 36 per cent of trains on time in 2019.

James Lintern, co-founder of staff management software provider RotaCloud, said: “Being headquartered in York, a city notorious for problem commuting and 15th on the list of unreliable stations, our staff have had issues getting into the office on time for a long while.

"Our solution was to introduce flexible working, and as long as our staff are here for our core hours, they can now come and go as they please. Something that has greatly relieved the pressure on our team.

“We wanted to take a deeper look into the reliability of the country's trains, and we built our ‘punctuality tool’ to highlight the sheer volume of delays, cancellations and general lateness in the rail network.

"The country's hardworking railway staff are spread paper thin, and we didn’t build this tool to give them more of a bashing than they're already getting.

"But if it can help illustrate the scope of this problem in a more relatable way, especially to other employers in some of the worst affected areas, it might encourage more businesses to adopt things like flexible working, where possible — something that can only help ease the strain on our overburdened trains and stations.”

Scotland has two notable entries in the best and worst lists. Despite not handling as many trains as some of the larger stations, Inverkeithing is the worst-performing Scottish railway station, and seventh worst in Great Britain overall. Ayr, however, is seventh best in Great Britain with 87.5 per cent of all trains that pass through the station being on time.

In Wales, Cardiff Bay is the most punctual train station in the whole of Great Britain, with 94 per cent of all trains on time.

Of the top 500 busiest stations, the top 20 worst performing locations are:

1. Lancaster, with an average of 63.5% of all trains late

2. Wakefield Westgate - 63%

3. Durham - 62.8%

4. Manchester Oxford Road - 62.8%

5. Meadowhall (Sheffield) - 62.5%

6. Smethwick Galton Bdg L.L. (Birmingham) - 60.7%

7. Inverkeithing - 60.3%

8. Stalybridge (Greater Manchester) - 60.3%

9. Huddersfield - 59.7%

10.) Birmingham New Street - 58.7%

11.) Darlington - 58.1%

12.) Sheffield - 57.3%

13.) Wakefield Kirkgate 57.1%

14.) Wolverhampton - 57.1%

15.) York - 57%

16.) Manchester Deansgate - 57%

17.) Birmingham International - 56.9%

18.) Warrington Bank Quay - 56.8%

19.) Coventry 56.7%

20.) Stockport - 56.2%

Out of the top 20 worst performing stations for punctuality, 13 are in the North of England, and six are in Birmingham or the West Midlands. These lateness figures are based on an average punctuality across the year, however at peak times the percentages can rise as high as, for Lancaster for example, 72 per cent.

Out of the top 20 best performing stations, 15 are in the South of England, with eight of those in Essex and six in London. Two Merseyside stations also make the top 10.

Of the top 500 busiest stations, the TOP 20 BEST PERFORMING LOCATIONS* are:

1. Cardiff Bay, with only 6.4% of trains late

2. Falmer - 6.9%

3. Chingford - 9.1%

4. London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 - 9.1%

5. Kirkdale - 11.3% (Merseyside)

6. Highbury And Islington (ELL) - 11.3%

7. Ayr - 12.6%

8. Kirkby 12.6% (Merseyside)

9. Upminster - 12.9%

10. Benfleet - 13%

11. Port Glasgow - 13%

12. Gidea Park - 13%

13. Chalkwell - 13.1%

14. Basildon 13.2%

15. Leigh-On-Sea - 13.3%

16. Shoeburyness - 13.3%

17. Moorgate East 13.4%

18. Thorpe Bay - 13.5%

19. Pitsea - 13.5%

20. Laindon 13.6%

*Busiest stations as defined by the stations with the greatest number of recorded stops at station, as per Network Rail figures.

*All data from January 2019 to January 2020 *Lateness defined as any train being more than one minute late.

*All figures are averages, however at peak times throughout the year the figures are often higher.