THE MULTI-million pound Worcestershire Parkway is one of the worst stations in the country for trains being on time.

Only 26 of the nation's 2,634 stations have been worse for trains being late than the Norton station, statistics by the On Time Trains website have revealed'

Less than a quarter of the services stopping there were on time. 

Worcester Foregate Street and Worcester Shrub Hill have also been ranked poorly for train reliability. 

But rail bosses have hit back, claiming that train delays in recent months have been due to reasons out of their control. 

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Just 24 per cent of trains have stopped at Worcestershire Parkway have been on time over the past six months, while 13 per cent have been at least 10 minutes late and six per cent have been cancelled. 

In addition, On Time Trains only gave the Parkway its highest daily ranking once during that time. 

By comparison, 49 per cent of its trains arrive on time at Worcester Foregate Street but nine per cent were cancelled. 

At nearby Worcester Shrub Hill, eight per cent of services were cancelled and 49 per cent were on time. 

However, Worcestershire Parkway ranks 14 places higher in the nationwide standings than it did over the previous six months. 

Worcester Shrub Hill has risen up the rankings by 173 places during that time, and Foregate Street is up 104 places. 

Stations are ranked by performance score which is calculated based on service punctuality and cancellation frequency.

Worcester Foregate Street and Worcester Shrub Hill are operated by West Midlands Railway, while Worcestershire Parkway is run by Great Western Railway. 

A West Midlands Railway spokesperson said: “Running a reliable service is our top priority and we are committed to working with partners in the industry to improve performance in South Worcestershire.
 
“In recent months, services running through South Worcestershire have been subject to delays due to issues outside of our control, such as signalling and points failures. However, we have seen a recent improvement in reliability on the route.
 
“We encourage any passenger who has been delayed by 15 minutes or more as a result of disruption to claim compensation against the cost of their ticket under the Delay Repay scheme.”

Great Western Railway was unavailable for comment.