Gatwick Express revealed as Britain’s least punctual rail service

Bosses and shareholders pocketing greater pay-outs despite thousands of delays and cancellations

A Gatwick Express train runs alongside a Southern service, both of which are run by the beleaguered Govia Thameslink Railway (PA)

The direct rail link between London Victoria and Gatwick airport has been revealed as the UK’s most delayed train service, notching up more than 8,100 late services in just the last six months.

The premium-priced service is operated by the embattled Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which is also under fire after it announced last week it was axing 341 Southern trains a day as part of an emergency timetable introduced in an attempt to improve poor punctuality.

The UK’s five worst routes are run by GTR, with the second worst service – the London to Brighton route – operated by Southern, which saw 34,352 trains (32.8 per cent) at least five minutes late in the last six months.

Research by the Sunday Times found that 33.9 per cent of Gatwick Express trains had been over five minutes late since January 2016.

In addition, more than 2,659 trains, or 11 per cent of all trains on the line, were over 30 minutes late or cancelled.

GTR’s Thameslink service between London and Brighton saw 27.4% of its trains late by at least five minutes and 26.2% of trains on its London to Bedford route were also late by at least five minutes.

Despite the poor service, David Brown, the chief executive of GTR’s parent company, the Go Ahead Group, has seen his pay and bonus package soar to £2.16m, which union bosses described as a “national disgrace”.

In addition, dividend pay-outs to shareholders in Go Ahead rose to £37m in 2015, up from £35m the previous year.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is among those calling for the government to strip GTR of its Southern franchise, saying he was appalled by the “unceasing misery” being suffered by passengers who pay thousands of pounds for tickets.

The rail minister, Claire Perry resigned on Friday after earlier saying she was “ashamed” of the chaos on Southern routes and that the situation “feels like a failure”.