Rail travel in Britain reaches record levels

New statistics published today by the Office of Rail Regulation show that rail use is on the rise as Britain’s railways clocked up 1.23 billion journeys in 2011-12. This accounts for a 6% increase in rail passenger journeys compared with the previous year – the highest since records began in 1995-96.

The data highlights passenger journeys within Great Britain, looking at travel within and between 11 regions – East of England, East Midlands, London, North East, North West, Scotland, South East, South West, Wales, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber.

The data also shows that:

• The total number of rail journeys within England was 1.11 billion – 749.8 million of those started or ended in London, accounting for about 67.3%
• Rail journeys within individual regions increased by 6.8% compared with 2010-11 and rail journeys between the 11 regions were up 4.3% from 2010-11.
• The total number of rail journeys for Scotland was 87.1 million – up 4.7% on 2010-11. Over 90% of journeys were within Scotland. Areas that saw the largest growth were West Lothian and East Ayrshire, which grew by 17.0% and 11.8% respectively.
• The total number of rail journeys for Wales rose to 28.1 million – up 2.9% from 2010-11. Journeys between Wales and other regions went up by 5.2% compared to 2010-11 – exceeding 9 million journeys for the first time.
• London had more rail journeys than any other region – 754 million. London was the origin or destination for 61.3% of all rail journeys in Great Britain. The number of journeys within London grew by 9.0% compared to 2010-11.

To view the statistics and a summary of the methodology, see: http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/