Swindon railway station is ranked 100th worst for delays in the UK.

Great Western Rail has responded to research that shows only 43 per cent of trains were on time in the last 12 weeks.

The rail operator says that the research does not indicate whether the train arrived at its final destination on time.

The website, On Time Trains, shows Swindon as 2,488 out of 2,627 stations for punctuality, despite being in the top 200 busiest stations.

Meanwhile, nearby Pewsey was ranked eighth worst for punctuality - 2,619 out of 2,627.

Swindon station has 7,610 passengers a day but only 44 per cent of its trains arrived on time in the last 12 weeks.

Of the late trains, 11 per cent were three to four minutes late, and the same proportion were five to nine minutes late. Four per cent were cancelled.

The greatest number of delayed trains were scheduled from 6pm to 7pm, when only 30 per cent of the trains arrived on time.

But GWR has responded that the website measures a train as being on time if it arrives within one minute of its scheduled time.

It use a train arriving within 15 minutes of its scheduled time as their benchmark.

And it said that the website does not indicate whether the train went on to arrive on time at its final destination.

While Swindon may be the station where you may wait to board the most frequently, this does not mean you will be waiting to arrive the most frequently as the train can make up lost time on its journey.

Lastly, while GWR operates the trains, it is not responsible for the tracks. Track issues are maintained by Network Rail and can be the cause of delays.

A GWR spokesperson responded: “We recognise how important it is that our trains arrive on time and work incredibly hard to ensure they do. 

“More than 26,000 trains have served Swindon station over the last six months, with 92 per cent of those arriving within 15 minutes.

"This is against a backdrop of almost 20 days of industrial action and action short of strike, and some significant infrastructure challenges in London and the Thames Valley.

"We continue to work with Network Rail as we seek to improve the reliability of the track, and we urge the unions to progress discussions to avoid any further, damaging strike action."