‘The last time rail travel was this popular, train crews were shovelling coal into steam engines and many carriages were still lit by gaslight,’ says Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of ATOC as figures released show the number of people travelling by train rising to record new levels.
Despite the recession last year the rail industry bounced back carrying more passengers in a peacetime year than at any time since the 1920s. ATOC says 1.32 billion passenger journeys were made by train last year. This is a dramatic rise of 6.9% over 2009 and is a rise of 37% compared to 2000. Passengers travelled a record 33.3bn miles by train.
ATOC says that the growth is partly driven by people taking advantage of cheap tickets. The sale of cheap Advance tickets rose 12% compared to 2009. Petrol prices rocketing up to £1.30 a litre are persuading motorists to leave the car at home and take the train. The successful rollout of Oyster Pay as You Go to all national rail services in London has also helped.
Says Michael Roberts, ‘2010 was a year of strong growth in rail journeys. Despite tough times for many people, train companies have been able to attract greater numbers of passengers to the railways with a range of affordable tickets for all types of customers….Passenger rail supports thousands of businesses and helps millions of people every day to get to work, meet friends and family or just to get out and about to have fun. The challenge will be to continue this growth during 2011.’
