Updated
12.50

The
Office
of
Rail
and
Road


has
revealed
that
417
million
passenger
journeys
were
made
on
National
Rail
during
the
last
three
months
of
2023,
which
was
an
increase
of
20
per
cent
when
compared
with
the
same
quarter
a
year
earlier.

The
total
for
2023
was
1,570
million,
which
again
showed
a
20
per
cent
increase
compared
with
2022.
Passenger
kilometres
rose
by
the
same
percentage,
to
15.2
billion
between
October
and
December.

Revenue
was
also
up,
from
£2.2
billion
in
the
last
quarter
of
2022
to
£2.6
billion
in
the
same
quarter
last
year.

The
increases
have
been
recorded
in
spite
of
seven
days
of
industrial
action
in
the
last
three
months
of
2023,
which
could
mean
falls
in
‘trains
planned’
of
as
much
as
68
per
cent
on
the
worst
affected
days.

The
ORR
pointed
out
that
the
figures
are
also
affected
by
split
ticketing,
which
increases
the
number
of
individual
journeys,
and
also
by
the
fact
that
the
statistics
count
each
train
used
by
a
passenger,
so
that
if
a
change
of
train
is
needed
another
journey
is
added
to
the
total.

The
private
sector
lobby
group
Rail
Partners
said: ‘Although
the
latest
ORR
data
shows
an
increase
in
passenger
numbers,
passengers
are
still
not
using
trains
at
the
levels
seen
before
the
pandemic.

‘This
underlines
the
urgent
need
for
rail
reform
to
create
a
new
public
body
to
oversee
the
railways,
but
also
to
give
operators
the
commercial
freedoms
to
attract
customers
back
to
rail.’

The
chief
executive
of
the
Railway
Industry
Association
Darren
Caplan
said:
‘The
return
to
rail
continues
apace
and
this
substantial
20
per
cent
uplift
year-on-year
is
a
really
encouraging
increase
in
the
number
of
passenger
journeys
and
revenues.

‘This
follows
the
excellent
recent
DfT
passenger
statistics
which
–
despite
changing
calculations
methodologies
to
exclude
all
Elizabeth
Line
passengers
–
have
in
March
exceeded
100
per
cent
of
pre-Covid
figures.
Inclusion
of
those
passengers
would
take
overall
numbers
to
nearly
110
per
cent,
which
is
real
progress
considering
the
comparison
year,
2019-20,
was
the
second
highest
on
record.

‘These
new
ORR
and
DfT
figures
are
a
reminder
that
the
railway
will
need
more
capacity
in
the
future,
especially
with
the
recent
RIA-commissioned
Steer
report
forecasting
passenger
numbers
to
grow
between
37
per
cent
and
97
per
cent
to
2050,
depending
on
which
policy
the
Government
adopts
in
the
coming
years.’