Passenger numbers rise - but season ticket use falls by 5%
The number of passenger journeys made on Britain’s railways in the first quarter of 2019-20 (April-June 2019) rose by 2.4% compared with the corresponding three-month period in 2018-19.
The latest figures published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) on October 3 reveal that 493 million journeys were made. The number of journeys for the 12 months to the end of June 2019 was 1.77 billion.
Passenger numbers continue to grow across all sectors, with London and the South East recording the highest figure of 4.3%. However, Q1 growth slowed in the quarter compared with Q1 2018-19, which the ORR says could be due to the timing of Easter, which was entirely in the first quarter of the year. (In 2018 it was split between the final quarter in financial year 2017-18 and the first in 2018-19.
While the overall number of passenger journeys continues to grow, the number made using season tickets decreased by 7.5 million (down 5%) compared with Q1 2018-19 - the lowest Q1 total since 2010-11 and representing a market share of 32.5%.
Some 11.8 million (8.2%) more journeys were made using Off-Peak fares (up 8.2%), making them the most popular ticket type.
Anytime fares sales increased by 5.2 million to a 25.6% share, Advance by 1.6 million to a share of 4.7%, and ‘other’ fares fell by 0.7 million to a share of 1.9%.
Passenger revenues also increased in the quarter, by 4.9% to £2.7 billion.
Govia Thameslink Railway recorded both the highest number of passenger journeys (20% of the national figure), and its highest Q1 growth since its time series began in 2011-12.
Passenger journeys on Southeastern rose by 3.7% to 44.7 million, although London Overground recorded a fall of 1.6 million journeys, which the ORR says could be due to engineering works over the Easter and May Day Bank Holidays.
A five-day strike on South Western Railway is blamed for its 0.3% fall, while the transfer of some Great Western Railway services to TfL Rail explains the decline in GWR passenger journeys.
Passenger kilometres increased across the railway, with rises of 4.3% in London and the South East, 3.2% in the Long-Distance sector and 3.2% in the Regional sector.
LNER recorded a record high of
1.6 billion passenger-km in Q1 2019-20, while Virgin Trains West Coast’s grew by 3.2% to 1.9 billion. The highest growth of any quarter since Q3 2016-17 was recorded by Northern, where a 10.6% increase is credited to its recovery from the May 2018 timetable change and from the closure of Liverpool Lime Street for a major upgrade.
At the announcement of the figures, the Rail Delivery Group said passengers are choosing more flexible tickets than seasons, and that its fares proposals would mean passengers travelling into cities could have fares capped weekly in similar fashion to London.
“As working patterns change, many commuters are realising that they are being held back by an outdated, rigid fares system where the traditional season ticket no longer meets their needs,” said RDG Director of Nations and Regions Robert Nisbet.
“Now is the time for the Government to update fares regulations so that commuters everywhere can benefit from tap-in, tap-out technology and automatic prices caps as part of a more flexible, modern and easier-to-use fares system.”