Rail passenger numbers achieve 80% milestone

Passenger numbers on the national rail network briefly reached 80% of pre-pandemic levels on Friday March 18 (the highest recorded since March 15 2020), with figures remaining constant at around that level during the fortnight from March 7.

As this issue of RAIL went to press, these were the most-recent confirmed numbers. Data for the following fortnight from March 21 was provisional, as it normally takes around 14 days for the final figures to be confirmed.

While the provisional figures for the week commencing March 21 were 70%-75%, the following week (commencing March 28) they had fallen back to 66%67%. Anecdotal reports suggest that these figures are likely to be revised upwards.

A key trend is that travel at weekends - mostly for leisure tracks the weekday numbers, but is around two percentage points higher.

On London’s Tube network over the same period, figures were in the 60%-67% bracket of preCOVID numbers. On March 18 (the 80% national rail day), they fell back to 62% from 68% the day before, replicating a pattern of much lower Friday travel figures.

By contrast, weekend Tube travel continues to rise - and the gap is widening. On Sunday April 3, it reached 87%, compared with 59% on Monday April 4 (typical for recent Mondays).

All the figures are for total network travel, so do not reflect individual routes where passenger numbers are higher or lower than average.

Transport for London buses in the three weeks to April 3 was typically at 76%-80% of prepandemic levels on weekdays and 80-84% at weekends. Bus use in the rest of Britain was 80%-84% on weekdays and 79%-90% at weekends.

Meanwhile, car travel over the same period was at 89%-95% (weekdays) and 98%-109% (weekends).

“To have around 80% of preCOVID passenger levels only a matter of weeks after the end of COVID restrictions shows that passengers are returning in good numbers,” said Railway Industry Association Policy Director Kate Jennings.

“These statistics are especially strong over the weekends, which is a clear vote of confidence in using rail for leisure travel. We hope to see these numbers continue to rise in the months and years ahead.”