A return to standing in the rush hour

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

One in five rail passengers arriving into major cities in England and Wales during the morning rush hour were forced to stand, official figures show.

The average number of commuters pouring into urban centres on a daily basis rose by 13% to 1.7 million on average between September and December 2023, compared to the same period the year before.

But train operators increased seating capacity by just 2% over that time, according to a report published by the Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)).

Posting in "looking forward" - are we seeing a strong growth and a continuation of the upward trend of the first two decades of this century in spite of the covid glitch?  Headlines talk of leisure growth but is the report signalling a less noticed return to growth of commuter traffic?

[TaplowGreen]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

One in five rail passengers arriving into major cities in England and Wales during the morning rush hour were forced to stand, official figures show.

The average number of commuters pouring into urban centres on a daily basis rose by 13% to 1.7 million on average between September and December 2023, compared to the same period the year before.

But train operators increased seating capacity by just 2% over that time, according to a report published by the Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)).

Posting in "looking forward" - are we seeing a strong growth and a continuation of the upward trend of the first two decades of this century in spite of the covid glitch?  Headlines talk of leisure growth but is the report signalling a less noticed return to growth of commuter traffic?

Possibly, but it doesn't necessarily translate;

https://inews.co.uk/opinion/commuters-prop-up-railways-anymore-good-thing-customers-3283159

[grahame]

Further recent journey data to fuel the thoughts - from the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) presentation on Wednesday, shared (under the meeting thread) with permission to members.



Lots of individual "why"s can be suggested as we look to understand this data, but '24 on '23 is significant on all but Severn Beach (wonder why?) and South Wales to Bristol (suggestion being that Severn Tunnel closures had an effect)

[TaplowGreen]

I think this is the report referenced..............interesting reading;

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-passenger-numbers-and-crowding-on-weekdays-in-major-cities-in-england-and-wales-2023/rail-passenger-numbers-and-crowding-on-weekdays-in-major-cities-in-england-and-wales-2023

[ChrisB]

This is the same report that the thread I posted about the most crowded services came from....