Cut price fares and rising cost of petrol lead to historic numbers of rail passengersA surge in the sale of cut price train tickets combined with rocketing petrol prices are helping to drive up demand for rail to historic levels, according to new figures published today.
Analysis by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) shows that passenger numbers grew by 6% in the last 12 months. Journeys on the rail network reached over 1.4billion ^ a new high for a peacetime year since the 1920s.
Strong growth in sales of reduced-price tickets in particular suggests that people are increasingly turning to rail by opting for affordable tickets that compare well with the cost of other forms of transport.
Figures from ATOC show that over the last 12 months, sales of reduced-price tickets rose by 9%. This includes:
- Advance tickets rose by 16%
- Journeys on Railcards rose by 11%. More than 100 million journeys a year are now made with a Railcard, with holders saving on average ^138 a year. Railcards give a third of the price off most tickets for young people, families and the over 60s.
- Off-Peak fares grew by nearly 7% and Super Off-Peak fares (generally limited to travel at the quietest times) increased by 12%.
ATOC opinion polling shows that the record price of petrol is also prompting hundreds of thousands of people to switch from road to rail.
Research carried out by Ipsos MORI for ATOC shows that more than a quarter of rail users have switched from car to train for at least one journey over the last few months. Around a third of those to switch said that they had done so because of the price of petrol.
The average price of petrol has been steadily increasing in recent months and reached a new record at the start of March, at 137.4p a litre. The average cost per mile when driving is now 38p, almost double the 20p per mile for rail travel.
Michael Roberts, ATOC Chief Executive, said: ^People are voting with their feet and wallets by choosing to travel by train in growing numbers. Operators have attracted people to the railways by providing a range of affordable tickets and cut price deals.
^The rising cost of motoring also means that rather than automatically reaching for the car keys, more and more people are heading to the train station to get from A to B.
^The latest figures show the growing popularity of booking ahead to cash in on cheap advance tickets. But they also show that the walk-up railway continues to offer value to passengers, with train companies selling a record 365million off-peak tickets over the last year. From students to pensioners, families to businesspeople, the railways are keeping the country moving in tough times.^
Notes to Editors
ATOC has published a six point plan on how people can save money on train tickets:
1. Book in advance
^ Train companies have almost doubled the number of cheap Advance fares available in the last few years, and now sell around a million every week. They are available to buy up to 12 weeks before the date of travel and can be bought right up until 6pm the day before you travel (subject to availability).
^ Advance fares are single tickets that are valid only on the date and train shown on the ticket.
2. Use online money-saving tools
^ National Rail Enquiries^ Cheapest Fare Finder tool:
www.nationalrail.co.uk/cheapestfare^ Days Out Guide (
www.daysoutguide.co.uk), offers 2for1 entry with rail tickets to hundreds of attractions across Britain
^ National Rail Enquiries^ promotions page includes many of the latest fare offers from
TOCs▸ :
www.nationalrail.co.uk/promotions3. Use a Railcard
^ Record numbers of journeys are being made using Railcards, up by around a quarter since 2005. There are around 3.3million Railcards in use today.
^ 1 in 14 journeys are now made with a Railcard every year, with Railcard holders saving on average ^138 a year.
4. Travel during less busy times
^ Off-Peak fares are cheaper tickets for travelling on trains that are less busy. You can buy Off-Peak tickets any time before you travel. Restrictions will depend on the journey you are making and you will be advised when you buy.
^ On longer distance journeys, if you travel in a peak period one way but return when it is less busy, look at a combination of Advance, Off-Peak and Anytime fares to get the best deal. Use
www.nationalrail.co.uk to check out all the options.
5. Buy a Season Ticket
^ If passengers are making the same journey just two or three days a week, getting a Season ticket means they make considerable savings.
^ An annual ticket offers 52 weeks^ travel for the price of 40, and weekly and month Season tickets are also available. The average price of a single journey made on an annual Season ticket is ^3.18. Use National Rail Enquiries^ Season Ticket Calculator -
http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/seasonticket/search - to check prices.
6. Use group travel discounts
^ Three or four adults travelling together at off-peak times can pay for the price of two by using Groupsave, which covers hundreds of destinations across London and South East ^ see
www.daysoutguide.co.uk/groupsaveSales of reduced-price tickets rose from 439m in the previous year to 480m in the last 12 months (February 2011 to February 2012): Off-Peak ticket sales rose from 342m to 363m; Super Off-Peak ticket sales rose from 32.6m to 36.6m; Advance ticket sales rose from 42.1m to 48.6m.
The 9% in reduced-price fares does not include journeys on Season Tickets, sales of which also rose by 4.3%. Figures from all journeys come from the
LENNON▸ database, the rail industry^s central ticketing system, which records around 98% of all journeys.
1,000 respondents, weighted to be representative of the British public aged 16+, were interviewed online by Ipsos MORI between 27th January and 1st February 2012. The question ^In the last two months, have you made a journey by rail that you would normally have made by car?^ was put to the 656 who said they travelled by rail.
The average cost of travelling by car is based on AA^s 2011 motoring costs for petrol cars -
http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/running_costs/petrol2011.pdf, using the standing charges per year, plus the average cost of petrol and parking. When based on a car value of ^12k-^16k travelling an average of 15k miles a year, the average cost per mile is 38p. When based on a car value of ^20k-^32k, the average is 55p per mile.
Official industry data compiled by the Office of Rail Regulation shows that the average price paid for a single journey is ^4.86 for a 23.8 mile journey, which works out at 20p per mile.
According to official AA statistics, the average price of petrol reached a new record on 2nd March 2012:
http://www.theaa.com/newsroom/news-2012/diesel-sets-new-record.htmlAccording to the latest AA British Insurance Premium Index, the cost of car insurance went up by 16% in the year to October 2011.
