Fewer rail journeys made in Q2 2017 using season tickets, reveals ORR

The number of rail journeys made between July and September 2017 using season tickets fell by 9.4% compared with the corresponding three-month period in 2016-17.

According to figures released by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) on December 14, this was the lowest level since the second quarter in 2010-11, leading to a total drop in passenger journeys of 0.4% to 424 million.

Rises in the number of journeys made using Advance (up 8.8%), Anytime (3.7%) and Off-Peak (7.8%) - including a record total for Anytime of 101 million - failed to offset the decline in season ticket usage.

Britain’s biggest four passenger operators - Govia Thameslink Railway, South Western Railway, London Overground and Southeastern - witnessed falls in passenger numbers, with those of GTR down 0.5%, London Overground 1% and Southeastern 0.4%. On South Western Railway (SWR), passenger numbers fell by 8.5%, blamed largely on the three-week blockade of London Waterloo in August.

Chiltern Railways recorded the biggest increase in the number of passenger journeys (11.4%), credited to the completion of its new London-Oxford route.

In terms of passenger-kilometres, nationally the total increased by 1.3% compared with the corresponding Q2 in 2016-17, with the long-distance sector reaching a record high of 5.7 billion (up 2.8%). The increase for Regional operators was 3.5%, but London and South East operators reported a 0.8% fall.

In the league table of train operators’ passenger-km, Chiltern again recorded the highest growth (15.9%), but four other operators also witnessed growth of more than 5%. These were Hull Trains (9.8%), ScotRail (8.2%), CrossCountry (7.6%) and TransPennine Express (7%).

As well as SWR, Merseyrail (-5%), TfL Rail (-4.8%) and Grand Central (-4.7%) all reported falls in passenger-km.

While passenger revenue across all operators rose by 4.8% to £2.4 billion, that for season tickets fell by 8%. Revenue growth in the London and South East sector also slowed to 0.2% year on year, the second lowest figure ever recorded.

Long Distance and Regional operators reported their highest ever revenue growth for the quarter, of 3.1% and 6.1% respectively. Revenues for nonfranchised operators fell by 0.6% compared with a year previously (to £18.2 million), while overall revenue per journey across all operators increased by 2.4% to £5.65.