Michael Solomon Williams, from transport charity Campaign for Better Transport, said passengers in the North had “suffered for far too long”, with “far more” investment made in the South.
“There’s been a case of economic and social inequality which has been directly related to transport inequality over a number of years,” he said.
“We need to invest more in the north than in the south to rebalance things.”
Network Rail manages 20 of Britain’s busiest and biggest stations. It leases the rest to train operating companies who manage them but are not responsible for the punctuality of other operators using the stations.
Rail Delivery Group, which represents National Rail and train operators, said cancellations could be caused by weather, industrial action, trespass and track, train or signalling faults.
It said this was not acceptable and everyone was working hard to ensure train services were reliable and punctual.
