Post-pandemic passenger numbers building back up

The number of rail journeys made between April 2021-March 2022 was more than double that recorded in the previous 12-month period (during the pandemic).

Official figures released by the Office of Rail and Road show that some 990 million journeys were made throughout Britain over the last year, compared with just 388 million in 2020-21 as journeys fell to their lowest level since the mid19th century.

The rise in journeys also led to passenger revenue climbing nearly three-fold in the last year, from £2.0 billion to £5.9bn. This most recent figure equates to 54% of the £11bn generated per annum before the pandemic.

Among the other headline statistics, season tickets accounted for just 16.9% of journeys made in 2021-22 - half of pre-pandemic levels. They generated revenue worth £526 million, equal to 24% of the £2.2bn generated two years ago.

ORR found that long-distance journeys recorded the highest relative usage compared with pre-pandemic levels. In accordance with this trend, LNER was able to record 83.3% of pre-pandemic passengers returning to its network in 2021-22 - the most of any operator (see table).

Meanwhile, Govia Thameslink Railway recorded the highest overall usage in the last year with 179 million journeys made (51.3% of relative usage compared with two years ago).

Heathrow Express recorded the lowest relative usage (30.6%), with ScotRail the only other operator to have recorded fewer than half of pre-pandemic passengers using its services in 2021-22.

See Industry Insider, page 68.