Commuter Delays Calculator 2025: Is Your Train on Track to Get You to the Office on Time?

“The train on platform six is delayed by 15 minutes.” 

If you’re a regular commuter, you’ll know this announcement all too well. It’s particularly frustrating at this time of year to be standing on a cold, dark platform. 

From electrical faults and bad weather, to trespassers (both human and animal), there are plenty of reasons why trains might be behind schedule. 

More than half a million of us catch the train to work and many of us have become used to hold-ups and cancellations. Data from the Office of Rail and Road reveals 7.6m delay claims were made from April 2023-24 – up 30% from the previous year. Unsurprisingly in the UK, bad weather was the cause of nearly 26,000 hours of delays. 

Ticket prices also shot up by 5% in 2024 and are set to rise again by 4.6% in March. 

While claiming back some of your cash goes some way to alleviating the frustration, delays can derail your entire day, especially if you need to be in the office, at 9am, five days a week. 

Almost a third (28%) of us split our time between the office and working from home – but more and more businesses are encouraging their employees to return to the office, with most UK CEOs now hopeful of a full-return in the next three years. 

Rise of the Supercommuter

Hybrid working has paved the way for a growing army of supercommuters, those who travel more than 90 minutes to work, taking advantage of the flexibility it offers to land opportunities further afield. In fact, some members of our own team commute to our office in Nottingham from across the UK, including Manchester, Peterborough and Leicester, and even Guernsey.

“I commute weekly from Manchester to Nottingham and it’s rare that my train journey is ever on time. There are often delays, whether it’s a broken down train, a fault with the signalling or a lack of train drivers, which has led to hours lost in travel time and is really frustrating when it happens so often.”

— Becca Peel, digital PR account director at Tank

The National Picture

We wanted to understand the best and worst commuter routes, so we analysed data from the last six months looking at 660 journeys and nearly 50 stations. It revealed: 

• The average morning commuter train (arriving between 6am-10am) was delayed by two minutes and 33 seconds
• 4% of morning commuter trains were cancelled 
• Nearly 15% of morning commuter trains were delayed by at least five minutes
• The earlier your journey is, the less likely you are to be delayed. 

Track Your Train: Commuter Delays Calculator 

Next, we built a handy Commuter Delays Calculator. Enter your starting station and destination below, along with the arrival time to find out if your train is likely to be delayed and if so, by how long. 

Worst Stations for Commuters

So, where are you most likely to face a delay when commuting? 

To find out, we took data from Recent Train Times from the last six months to work out the most popular routes and delays. Below are the results. 

London Kings Cross is the worst UK station for delays according to our research. Along with Derby, it has the highest average delay time of over four minutes – but with 6% of services cancelled, and over a quarter (26%) of delays clocking in at more than five minutes, it ranks top. 

Delays also get progressively worse throughout the morning, starting at 3.53 minutes from 6am-6:59am arrival time, to almost five minutes by 9am-9:59am. 

There have been a number of incidents at Kings Cross in the last year alone. In August, passengers were left stranded because of damaged cables, while in October, a warning alerted passengers of up to 90-minute delays because of a fire on the tracks.

Manchester Piccadilly is the second worst station for delays with 8% of services not running and nearly a quarter of arrivals delayed by over five minutes. The longest delays stand at 4.53 minutes (8am-8:59am), and the shortest 2.72 minutes (6am-6:59am) – signalling that commuters may fare better travelling earlier. 

Liverpool Lime Street ranks third with an average delay time of just over three minutes, and 22% of delays being over five minutes. There is also an 8% chance that your service won’t run at all. Huddersfield and York rank fourth and fifth respectively, with average delay times of around four minutes. 

Four London-based stations crept into the top 10, no doubt because of the volume of services and commuters in the capital. Last year, a number of short-notice delays and cancellations were caused by train/tube strikes, and there are more planned for 2025. 

Most Reliable Station for Commuters

We also wanted to find out which stations are the most reliable for commuters. 

Interestingly, it was a London station that came out on top – Barking. Services are cancelled just 1% of the time, and only 1.5% of arrivals are delayed by more than five minutes – a stark contrast to Kings Cross at 26%. Barking also has the lowest average delay time of 0.21 minutes. 

Chelmsford in Essex ranks second with only 3% of trains running over five minutes late and an average delay time of just 0.54 minutes, followed by London Fenchurch Street with a delay time of 0.73 minutes. 

While London is home to the least reliable station, half of the most reliable stations in the top 10 are in the capital, so there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

The Worst Morning Commuter Routes 

You might think some commutes are worse than others, especially if you’re constantly delayed, and you’d be right. According to our research, the following routes are particularly unreliable.

Out of 660 commuter routes, the worst is Peterborough to Nottingham with an average delay time of 7.5 minutes and 39% of trains delayed by over five minutes. And if you travel on this route, there’s a 13% chance that the service won’t run. 

Humairaa Habib, content specialist and supercommuter at Tank, said: 

“I get the Peterborough to Nottingham train weekly to work, so I’m not surprised it’s been listed as the worst journey. There have been times where delays have been so bad, the best option is to go back home. It’s only because of my workplace’s hybrid policy and flexible start times that I manage to make it work.” 

Our figures show that the earlier you start your journey, the better. If your arrival time is between 6am and 7:59am, you’re less likely to be delayed compared to choosing an arrival time of between 8am-8.59am. 

The second worst route is Newton-le-Willows to Liverpool Lime Street with 42% of delays over five minutes, but a slightly better average delay time of 6.23. Hot on its tracks is Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff Central with the highest average delay time out of all routes of 10 minutes.

While London dominates for both the most/least reliable stations, the worst commuter routes are outside of the capital with delays significantly longer. 

The Best Morning Commuter Routes 

The most unproblematic routes are Rochester to Cannon Street, and Sittingbourne to Cannon Street with all services running and arrivals under five minutes late. Rochester to Cannon Street pushes slightly ahead with an average delay time of 0.4 minutes. 

But it seems Barking in London has the best routes, since it dominates the next eight spots, cementing its position as the most reliable station too. The shortest delay time is 0.14 minutes, with the majority of trains running and only a 1% chance of a delay being more than five minutes.

With many people relying on the train to get them to work, how can employers reduce the stress associated with delays and disruption?

Louise Stewart, people director at digital marketing and PR agency Tank, adds: 

“Our flexible and hybrid working policy at Tank means we can find talent from cities that are further out and this has only strengthened our team, in terms of skills and experience. Travelling by train can be stressful if, as our research shows, employees regularly experience delays. This is why I’m a big advocate of flexible and hybrid working – it allows people to travel at a time when they’re less likely to be delayed, and mix it up with some days working from home.”

Five tips from a supercommuter to make your journey easier:  

• Ticket options: Consider an ‘Anytime Return’ ticket because you’ll have flexibility with your departure and return journey times. It might cost slightly more but you’ll be able to catch another train if yours is delayed or cancelled without worrying about ticket restrictions 
• Claim compensation: Have a read of your train provider’s delays policy to see if you can claim back some of your ticket cost.
• Railcard fineprint: Don’t use your railcard for journeys before 10am on tickets that cost under £12, otherwise you could be fined. Check your railcard provider’s terms and conditions as policies may vary 
• Peak times: Consider getting to work earlier especially if you’re workplace offers flexible start times, as our research reveals the earlier you travel, the less likely you are to be delayed
• Plan your week: Avoid travelling mid-week as this is when train/tube journeys are busiest. You might fare better travelling on Monday or Friday when other people are likely to be working from home.

Methodology

*Once the data had been collected, an index score was given to each station for each data point, depending on the reliability of the journey. E.g. The stations with the largest average delay in minutes received a lower score out of 100; whereas a higher % of trains arriving within five minutes of scheduled time is desirable, so stations with the highest % ranked on top with a higher score. The cumulative percentages for each station and data point were totaled and ranked out of 300, with the highest index figure being most reliable, and vice versa.

The sample of 660 commuter journeys was chosen based on the most popular routes travelled by commuters to the UK’s 50 busiest stations based on annual passenger usage data from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).Delays data was based on the time period between 1 July 2024 and 31 December 2024 and was compiled using the Recent Train Times website. This data is sourced from National Rail using its Open Data Feeds. Only ‘regular’ journeys were included in the sample.