64% of Britons journeyed by rail, ONS survey reveals

ALMOST two-thirds of adults in Great Britain used rail at least once in the previous year, according to a survey released by the Department for Transport on February 28.

Statistics from the Office of National Statistics February 2018 Opinions and Lifestyle Survey also found that 76% of 16 to 24-yearolds and 74% of 25 to 44-year olds have travelled by train in the previous year.

Those who never travel by car, who were aged 75 or over, or who worked in routine or manual occupations were less likely to have used rail, while those in higher household income groups were more likely to have used rail in the past 12 months.

Those in the South East were most likely to have made a train journey (78%), followed by Wales (75%) and the Midlands and East of England (66%). People in the South West (53%) and Scotland (50%) used trains least.

Just over half of Great Britain’s adults (54%) made a short-distance journey in the previous year, with 65% of users rating the quality of their journeys positively.

The most popular reasons for making short journeys by rail were days out (44% of respondents), shopping (34%) and visiting friends and relatives (32%). The reason the statistics add up to more than 100% is because those who made more than one journey had more than one reason for doing so.

The most frequent reason for not using rail for short-distance trips was that it was easier to use a car. Three-quarters of respondents said their recent experiences of rail travel met their expectations.

Long-distance travel was less popular, with 34% of adults making such journeys in the last year. Of these, 69% were satisfied.

Visiting friends and relatives was the most popular reason for making long-distance journeys (54% of respondents). Days out accounted for 32% of journeys made, holidays 25% and business 24%.

Speed and convenience were cited as the most important reasons why people chose the train to travel long distances, with the convenience of other modes the most likely reason why rail was not chosen.

The price of tickets was cited as a barrier to using rail in both categories - 29% of rail users thought there were too many ticket types available when travelling by rail.

A quarter of users said they fully understood the different types of ticket available, 28% said they did not understand, and 46% said they partially understood the different types. 42% of passengers bought their tickets from booking offices, with 32% doing so online.

82% of passengers rated the ease of buying tickets positively, and 68% felt the same about the availability of advance tickets. 16% of adults used smart tickets to make a journey by rail in the previous 12 months, while 34% were aware of their existence but did not use them.

Further findings from the survey were that 8% of rail-using adults lived within a five-minute walk of their nearest station, 14% a 6-10 minute walk, and a further 24% between 11 and 20 minutes. 42% of all of those surveyed lived more than a 30-minute walk from their nearest railway station.