COMMUTERS outside London are putting up with painfully slow rail services compared to people who live in the capital, according to new research published today.

Trains to and from London stations were found to travel at average speeds of 65-93mph, compared with a sluggish 20-60mph elsewhere, according to analysis from the Press Association (PA).
While passengers travelling between London and other major destinations often have the choice of non-stop trains with reduced journey times, less high-powered lines are lagging well behind, PA found.

Travellers from Liverpool Central to Chester were worst off out of the journeys studied, with trains plying the 14-mile journey at a woeful 20mph. Those taking a train on the 38-mile jaunt from London Paddington to Reading meanwhile rocket to their destination at a whopping 93mph — arriving 17 minutes sooner.

Other slow routes listed included Leeds to Sheffield (42mph), Cardiff Central to Bristol Temple Meads (30mph), and Edinburgh to Perth (25mph).

Liverpool City Mayor Steve Rotheram said the figures highlight the “investment deficit that is seriously undermining growth potential in the north.

“You simply cannot deliver a 'northern powerhouse' as long as the regions that delivered the industrial revolution are reliant on transport infrastructure that is operating on a 19th-century timetable,” he added.

Think tank IPPR North senior research fellow Luke Raikes said slow journey times were “down to decades of underinvestment as the government has just responded to congestion problems in London.”

More than 85,000 people have signed the organisation’s petition calling on the government to boost investment for east-west rail services in northern England.

The think tank claims that £1,943 is being spent per person in London on current or planned transport projects compared with a paltry £427 in the north of England.

Lianna Etkind of the Campaign for Better Transport called on the government to “rebalance transport investment” by reversing its decision to cancel rail electrification projects.

Last month, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling sparked anger when he lent his support to the £30 billion Crossrail 2 scheme in London and the south-east, days after it had been announced that a series of rail electrification projects in Wales, the Midlands and northern England were to be axed or downgraded.

Speaking at a transport summit in Leeds last Wednesday, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said: “The patience of people in the north of England has run out.”

The research looked at 19 routes operating on Fridays.