New
figures


released
by
the
Office
of
Rail
and
Road
show
that
passenger
figures
are
continuing
to
recover
since
the
Covid
pandemic.

Altogether
390.2
million
journeys
were
made
on
National
Rail
between
1
April
and
30
June
this
year,
which
the
ORR
points
out
was
19
per
cent
higher
than
the
total
of
327.6
million
recorded
in
the
same
quarter
last
year.

In
the
same
quarter
in
2019,
before
the
pandemic,
there
were
437.5
million
journeys,
which
indicates
a
shortfall
between
now
and
then
of
10.86
per
cent.

But
ASLEF
staged
strikes
on
12
and
31
May
and
also
on
3
June,
while
RMT
members
walked
out
on
13
May
and
2
June.
In
addition,
ASLEF
imposed
overtime
bans
on
13
May,
from
15
to
20
May,
and
also
on
1
June. 

As
June
began,
industrial
tensions
remained
high.
ASLEF
drivers
voted
on
the
15th
in
favour
of
further
strikes,
while
a
few
days
later
the
union
announced
another
overtime
ban
to
run
from
3
to
8
July,
and
the
RMT
called
more
24-hour
strikes
on
20,
22
and
29
July.

This
combination
of
actual
disruption
and
reports
of
more
to
come
must
have
put
off
many
potential
rail
travellers
between
1
April
and
30
June.
It
is
not
possible
to
say
exactly
how
many
passengers
were
deterred,
but
with
annual
totals
running
at
about
1.4
billion,
we
might
estimate
that
at
up
to
four
million
journeys
a
day
were
lost
during
industrial
action.
Taking
the
strikes
between
April
and
June
alone,
that
suggests
the
passenger
totals
for
that
quarter
might
have
been
reduced
by
something
like
20
million.
If
the
strikes
had
not
happened,
the
theoretical
total
could
therefore
have
been
more
like
410
million.

This
is
admittedly
very
broad
brush,
but
410
million
is
only
about
6
per
cent
less
than
the
2019
figure
we
have
already
mentioned.

In
other
words,
it
seems
that
94
per
cent
of
passengers
have
(or
would
have)
returned
in
the
first
quarter
of
this
railway
year.

Passenger
kilometres
and
revenue
are
also
rising,
as
you
might
expect.
Passenger
kilometres
between
April
and
June
this
year
amounted
to
14.9
billion,
which
was
a
10
per
cent
increase
on
the
13.5
billion
in
the
same
quarter
in
the
previous
year.

Passenger
revenue
for
the
same
quarter
was
£2.6
billion.
This
total
was
10
per
cent
more
than
the
£2.3
billion
in
the
same
quarter
in
the
previous
year,
adjusted
for
inflation.

How
do
these
figures
compare
with
April-June
2019?
Passenger
kilometres
then
were
17.3
billion
and
revenue
was
£3,291
million,
but
as
with
the
passenger
figures,
the
gap
between
2019
and
2023
is
continuing
to
close.

Hull
Trains
has
recorded
that
the
number
of
passengers
using
its
services
compared
with
2019
is
28
per
cent
higher.
LNER
has
also
bounced
back,
and
has
been
doing
so
for
some
time.
As
long
ago
as
October
to
December
last
year,
its
passenger
journeys
were
96
per
cent
of
the
total
for
the
same
period
in
2019,
and
the
total
for
April-June
this
year
was
6.4
million,
compared
with
5.7
million
in
April-June
2019.

This
looks
like
more
than
recovery.
It
is
growth.