The Office of Rail and Road’s latest passenger statistics for the 1 April to 30 June 2022 period show that passenger numbers continued to rise, reaching 75.8% of pre-pandemic journeys.
A total of 1.1 billion journeys were made in the year to 30 June, more than double the 535 million made over the previous 12 months. However, passenger revenue at £2.1 billion over the quarter was 70.4% of the same quarter three years ago.
London North Eastern Railway is the first operator to record an increase in passenger journeys over pre-pandemic levels, with its 6.1 million journeys equating to 106.4% of the April to June 2019 figure. East Midlands Railway is also approaching parity, at 98.4% of its April-June 2019 levels.
At the lower end of the spectrum, ScotRail’s 14.51 million journeys accounted for 61.4% of pre-pandemic levels, South Western Railway was at 65.4% and Southeastern at 66.4%.
Passenger kilometres fell by 5.8% compared to April-June 2019 in London and the South East and by 1.3% for long-distance operators. However, Regional journeys were longer, with a 7.6% increase in passenger-km.
In terms of fares, season tickets now account for just 14.5% of the number of journeys on franchised operators, compared with 32.5% in April-June 2019. Journeys made with advance tickets were at 123.1% of pre-pandemic figures, with Anytime tickets at 89.4% and off-peak at 97.9%.
Analysis of revenue suggests that long-distance operators have lost most per passenger-km compared with April-June 2019, down 16.1%, with regional revenue falling 5.1% and London and the South East by 4%.
The average revenue per journey was £6.32 in the quarter, a fall of 7.6% when compared with three years ago.
