Government statistics show passengers experienced a total of 759,076 minutes of unscheduled delays in 2007, which does not include planned delays for track upgrades.

The figures show Network Rail was responsible for most of the delays and critics have hit out at the poor state of rail infrastructure.

The biggest delay came in the third quarter of 2008 with a total of 269,973 minutes of delays, of which 70% were caused by Network Rail and 14% was the responsibility of Virgin Trains, with 16% of delays caused by other factors.

In the first quarter of 2008 there were 166,608 minutes of delays, of which 79% were caused by Network Rail and 9% was the responsibility of Virgin Trains.

Julie Warburton, passenger link manager for rail Watchdog Passenger Focus, said travellers face more delays.

She said: "In the end there will be a lot of gain but not without a lot of pain. We are seeing the biggest upgrade ever attempted on an existing infrastructure."

Mrs Warburton warned rail users are set to face long delays during the Bank Holiday.

Brian Grey, from campaign group Railfuture NW, said: "It does sound disappointing to see that there are so many delays. I can only make a plea for everybody involved to do what they can to improve infrastructure."

In July the Evening Post revealed tickets could rise by 5.5% in January 2009, and rail bosses picked up bonuses totalling more than £1.4m.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: "We have acknowledged that the vast majority of delays are down to Network Rail.

"Much of it has been caused by work we are doing to upgrade the network and we have found flaws on the lines with equipment.We have also had a problem with cable thefts. By December this year we are expecting a vast improvement."



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