OFF THE RAILS

Many commuters are still avoiding travel by train

MANY seats remain empty on trains travelling across the nation - as around a fifth of commuters continue to steer clear of Britain’s railway network.

Transport ground to a near halt at the start of the pandemic, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson told people they must stay at home to protect the NHS on March 23 last year.

By March 26, the day the first Covid-19 lockdown legally began, rail commuter numbers dropped to just 13% of what they were on the equivalent day before the pandemic.

Numbers then continued to slump, down to a low of just 4% of normal, as people got used to life under lockdown, with shops, offices, and factories closed and thousands of people furloughed or working from home.

Then, as lockdown measures were eased in June and July, passengers began to return to the trains, but still in vastly reduced numbers.

By the end of July, passenger numbers were still at just 30% of what would normally be expected.

By Monday, September 7, 2020, passenger numbers reached an early pandemic high of 43% of the equivalent day in 2019, before numbers once again began to drop over autumn and winter, as lockdown measures were re-introduced.

More people have braved the trains as winter lockdowns in 2021 were eased and the vaccine was rolled out. Passenger numbers rose to 72% of the equivalent day before Covid-19, on days in late November.

But in contrast, road traffic was virtually at pre-pandemic levels by August 2020, with 99% of the numbers of cars, lorries, and vans seen on Britain’s motorways and trunk roads as would normally be expected on August 2. While they dropped again during later lockdowns, they also recovered more quickly after. Numbers using trains took another hit in the run-up to Christmas - with cases rising and compulsory masks on public transport reintroduced at the end of November in England (they were already in place in Wales and Scotland) - though numbers travelling on Christmas Eve were 75% of pre-pandemic levels. The latest data available shows that so far in 2022, passenger numbers rose to 80% towards the end of April, though have waned to 66% of what they were in 2019 in early April. Meanwhile, according to the latest Covid-19 travel survey, published by Transport Focus this month, more than a third of travellers not using a train (38%) said they would not feel very safe, or that they would not feel at all safe travelling by rail.

However, of those who had ventured on board a train, nine out of 10 (90%) said they had felt safe on their journey.

The survey also found that the majority of rail passengers (73%) had worn a face-covering throughout their journey.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) which represents passenger and freight rail companies - has now established a number of working groups to look at how the railway can respond to changing passenger needs.

It says recovery from the pandemic offers a, “once in a generation opportunity to build back around a new, clean economy”.

Andy Bagnall, director general at the RDG, said: “Rail companies are continuing to take steps, such as increased cleaning and boosting ventilation, to help passengers travel with confidence and the latest passenger research shows that nine in 10 rail passengers feel safe.

“Through our ‘Let’s get back on track’ campaign, we’re welcoming an increasing number of people back to train travel, particularly for leisure journeys which were almost at prepandemic levels at points during the summer and we worked with Government to introduce Flexi Season Tickets to support commuters who are travelling into their workplaces less often than before the pandemic.”