Rail demand on the up

A significant increase in demand for rail travel during the first six months of 2010 has seen a return to growth in passenger numbers on the railways not witnessed since before the recession.

Analysis published today by the Association of Train Operating Companies shows that October 2009 marked a turning point when demand on the railways began to recover and that since the start of 2010 overall demand for rail travel has begun to grow significantly.

During the first quarter of the calendar year 2010 (January to March) passenger journeys rose by 4.4% when compared to the same period last year; during the second quarter of 2010 (April to June) passenger journeys rose by 6.1%; during the first six months of 2010, there were 681m passenger journeys.

This compared with 648m during the first six months of 2009 – an overall rise of 5.1%.

Demand has grown on all parts of the railways since the turn of the year.

There are over a billion journeys made on the railways every year, with journeys up 60% since privatisation in the mid 90s.

The trend of strong growth is expected to continue as demand is forecast to double within the next 20 years.

Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of ATOC, said: “The strong growth in passenger journeys that we have seen since the turn of the year is hugely encouraging, both for the railway industry and for the broader economy.

“Passenger rail underpins economic growth, supporting thousands of businesses and helping millions of people every day to get to work, meet friends and family or just to get out and about to have fun."