Ince & Elton station: subject to Britain's most unpredictable service?
Introduction
Owing to several factors, Northern Trains is not able to serve the line between Ellesmere Port and Helsby (including Ince & Elton station) with any regularity. From 2021, trains called on the dates shown below. On a few days showing no or reduced service, trains ran but without a guard, hence were empty stock moves 'cancelled' as far as possible public use is concerned. Both Ellesmere Port and Helsby stations see a reliable service in other directions.
Jump to:
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Some general notes
Ince & Elton station has no Sunday service. Additionally, no service runs on 25 or 26 December. Each operating day should have two trains (three on Saturdays in 2021/2022) each way (four/six calls total). Each year section summarises the number of trains that actually called, number of days run, etc. Sometimes, a train will run empty so does not count as a call. Occasionally, staffing issues will give a passenger call in one direction but not the other, giving the apparently odd situation of an odd number of calls in a day. No attempt is made to consider the timeliness of the trains that did run.
Colour coding
14 = full service provided
13 = three calls only
12 = two calls only
11 = one call only
10 = entire service cancelled
9 = no scheduled service that day or future day
2021
January 2021
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
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Sat
1
2
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30
31
February 2021
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1
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27
28
March 2021
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31
April 2021
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30
May 2021
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1
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11
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31
June 2021
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1
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9
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30
July 2021
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31
August 2021
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1
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September 2021
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October 2021
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1
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31
November 2021
Sun
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1
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30
December 2021
Sun
Mon
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Fri
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1
2
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5
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9
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13
14
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16
17
18
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20
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25
26
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30
31
2021 headline statistics
Possible service days: 312
Actual service days: 292
Possible service calls: 1350
Actual service calls: 961
Proportion of trains run: 71.19%
Days with full service: 161
Weeks with full service: 13
Best day: Saturday (188 calls in the year)
Worst day: Monday (146 calls in the year)
Longest gap: 9 days
2022
January 2022
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1
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31
February 2022
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28
March 2022
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April 2022
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May 2022
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June 2022
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July 2022
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August 2022
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September 2022
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October 2022
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November 2022
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December 2022
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2022 headline statistics
Possible service days: 312
Actual service days: 229
Possible service calls: 1354
Actual service calls: 799
Proportion of trains run: 59.01%
Days with full service: 134
Weeks with full service: 4
Best day: Saturday (202 calls in the year)
Worst day: Wednesday (104 calls in the year)
Longest gap: 10 days
2023
January 2023
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February 2023
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March 2023
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April 2023
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May 2023
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June 2023
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July 2023
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August 2023
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September 2023
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October 2023
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November 2023
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December 2023
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2023 headline statistics
Possible service days: 310
Actual service days: 138
Possible service calls: 1240
Actual service calls: 435
Proportion of trains run: 35.08%
Days with full service: 77
Weeks with full service: 1
Best day: Monday (85 calls in the year)
Worst day: Wednesday (54 calls in the year)
Longest gap: 38 days
2024
January 2024
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February 2024
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March 2024
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April 2024
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May 2024
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June 2024
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July 2024
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August 2024
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September 2024
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October 2024
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November 2024
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December 2024
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2024 headline statistics
Possible service days: 312
Actual service days: 178
Possible service calls: 1248
Actual service calls: 571
Proportion of trains run: 45.75%
Days with full service: 107
Weeks with full service: 1
Best day: Tuesday (124 calls in the year)
Worst day: Monday (81 calls in the year)
Longest gap: 17 days
2025
January 2025
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February 2025
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March 2025
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April 2025
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May 2025
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June 2025
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July 2025
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August 2025
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September 2025
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October 2025
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November 2025
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December 2025
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2025 headline statistics
Possible service days: 311
Actual service days: 297
Possible service calls: 1244
Actual service calls: 1000
Proportion of trains run: 80.39%
Days with full service: 203
Weeks with full service: 4
Best day: Wednesday (187 calls in the year)
Worst day: Saturday (144 calls in the year)
Longest gap: 5 days
2026
January 2026
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2026 headline statistics
Possible service days: 311
Actual service days: 4 so far
Possible service calls: 1244
Actual service calls: 8 so far
Proportion of trains run: 0.64% so far
Days with full service: 0 so far
Weeks with full service: 0 so far