Train use up 116pc as more return to office

MORE workers – notably young people – returning to offices have seen train journeys more than double this week.

Car traffic in large cities has also risen markedly since lockdown restrictions eased at the beginning of the week.

Experts have said young people, who have spent the last year largely working in cramped flats, are the most keen to return to their offices.

Figures from Trainline.com showed that bookings of peak time journeys had risen 116 per cent on Monday compared to the same time four weeks ago, while satnav company Tomtom showed congestion had almost doubled in cities.

Figures for Monday showed traffic congestion levels in London rose to 42 per cent compared to 32 per cent the Monday before.

In Liverpool, it jumped from 25 per cent to 57 per cent and from 23 per cent to 51 per cent in Leeds.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the body for human resources managers, said the surge in commuters was likely being led by young people, who are the most enthusiastic to return to the office. Jon Boys, the CIPD’S labour market economist, said that even before the pandemic, people under 25 had had the lowest rates of home working because “essentially they over-occupy housing”.

He went on: “Older people underoccupy housing so they have a lot of spare rooms and younger people don’t, that is a big part of it.

“But then there is also the learning side and the need to have some proximity to colleagues as you are in that stage of your career when you are absorbing and learning new skills.”