Light rail and tram statistics, England: year ending March 2023
Published 5 September 2023
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2023
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About this release
This release presents the latest annual information on light rail and tram systems in England during the year ending March 2023. The release covers light rail and tram use, vehicle mileage, infrastructure, and revenue.
This publication covers 8 urban systems that are predominantly surface-running (see Table 1 for a list of systems covered). Smaller systems (for example, heritage railway and airport transit systems) are not included. London Underground, Glasgow Subway and Edinburgh Trams are also excluded from this report, but statistics for these systems are included in the associated tables.
Chart 1 is a line chart that shows that light rail and tram usage increased from 172 million passenger journeys in the year ending March 2022 to 212 million passenger journeys in the year ending March 2023. However, usage remains below pre-pandemic levels, with 275 million passenger journeys taken in the year ending March 2019.
Chart 1: Light rail and tram passenger journeys (millions): England, annually from year ending March 1984 to year ending March 2023 - LRT0101
1. Summary figures
Compared with year ending March 2022, in the year ending March 2023 passenger journeys increased on all of the 8 light rail systems by between 9% (London Trams) and 58% (Nottingham Express Transit).
Most systems saw decreases in vehicle miles with only two systems seeing increases. The most notable change in vehicle miles was an 11% decrease for West Midlands Metro, likely caused by a period of technical issues with the network from March until June 2022, and industrial action in October and November 2022. This differs to the year ending March 2022, when all systems saw increases from the previous year as they recovered from the pandemic.
All networks apart from West Midlands Metro saw increases in passenger revenue in the year ending March 2023, ranging from 17% (London Trams) to 67% (Nottingham Express Transit).
Details of factors impacting on annual figures including the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, planned closures, weather related closures and technical equipment failures can be found in the quality report.
Table 1: Summary of the latest annual light rail and tram figures (year ending March 2023) compared with the previous year (year ending March 2022)
| Passenger journeys (millions) | Percentage change | Vehicle miles (millions) | Percentage change | Passenger revenue (£, millions) | Percentage change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 211.5 | 23.3% | 20.8 | -0.5% | 329.1 | 30.2% |
| London systems | 113.2 | 17.5% | 5.4 | 3.8% | 146.4 | 21.5% |
| Docklands Light Railway | 92.3 | 19.6% | 3.5 | 9.4% | 128.2 | 22.2% |
| London Trams | 20.9 | 9.4% | 1.9 | -5.0% | 18.2 | 16.7% |
| England outside London systems | 98.3 | 30.7% | 15.4 | -1.9% | 182.7 | 38.2% |
| Nottingham Express Transit | 14.4 | 58.2% | 1.8 | 0.0% | 20.0 | 66.7% |
| West Midlands Metro | 5.4 | 14.9% | 0.8 | -11.1% | 9.9 | -1.0% |
| Sheffield Supertram | 8.4 | 21.7% | 1.3 | -7.1% | 14.6 | 33.9% |
| Tyne and Wear Metro | 29.3 | 20.6% | 3 | -9.1% | 60.9 | 47.1% |
| Manchester Metrolink | 36 | 38.5% | 8.0 | 2.6% | 70.5 | 34.0% |
| Blackpool Tramway | 4.9 | 16.7% | 0.5 | -16.7% | 6.8 | 28.3% |
2. Passenger journeys
In England, in the year ending March 2023, passenger journeys on light rail and tram systems increased to 212 million, an increase of 23% compared with the previous year where there were 172 million passenger journeys.
Chart 2 is a bar chart that shows passenger journeys on all systems in England in the year ending March 2023. The highest number of journeys was seen on the Docklands Light Railway, with 92.3 million passenger journeys. Blackpool Tramway had the fewest journeys, with 4.9 million.
Chart 2: Light rail and tram passenger journeys (millions) by system: England, year ending March 2023 LRT0101
Passenger journeys on all systems remain below pre-pandemic levels. When comparing the year ending March 2023 with the year ending March 2019, the largest fall in passenger journeys was seen on West Midlands Metro, where they fell by 35%. The smallest fall was seen for Blackpool Tramway, where they fell by 6%. Passenger journeys on most other systems were around 20% to 30% below pre-pandemic levels.
Chart 3 is a line chart showing the average number of light rail and tram journeys per head in England, London and England outside of London annually. In England, the average number of journeys per head was 12.0 in the year ending March 2023 compared with 9.8 journeys per head in the year ending March 2022, a 22% increase. The average number of journeys per head remains below pre-pandemic levels (15.7 in the year ending March 2019).
Chart 3: Light rail and tram passenger journeys per head:England, London and England outside London, annually from year ending March 2005 LRT0109
3. Concessionary journeys
In England, in the year ending March 2023, there were 27.7 million concessionary journeys on light rail and tram systems. This is an increase of 23% when compared to the year ending March 2022 figure of 22.6 million.
Chart 4 is a bar chart that shows that Manchester Metrolink had the most concessionary passenger journeys in the year ending March 2023, with 7.7 million. Blackpool Tramway had the least, with 0.5 million. When comparing the year ending March 2023 with the year ending March 2019, all systems apart from Sheffield Supertram saw a fall in concessionary passenger journeys.
Chart 4: Light rail and tram concessionary journeys (millions) by system: England, year ending March 2023 LRT0102
In England 13% of all light rail and tram passenger journeys were concessionary in the year ending March 2023, which was similar to the previous year. This varied by system from 6% on the DLR to 49% on Sheffield Supertram. For Sheffield Supertram this was an increase from 38% in the previous year.
Concessionary travel on light rail and trams represents a relatively small proportion of passenger journeys when compared with concessionary travel on local bus passenger services in England. In the year ending March 2022, 33% of all bus journeys were concessionary.
4. Vehicle mileage
Vehicle mileage can be used as an indicator of the level of service provision by operators. Chart 5 is a line chart that shows that in England, vehicle mileage in the year ending March 2023 (20.8 million miles) was very similar to the year ending March 2022 (20.9 million miles). This followed a slight increase in vehicle mileage in the year ending March 2022, which was likely to be as a result of recovery from the pandemic.
Chart 5: Light rail and tram passenger journeys and vehicle miles index: England, annually from year ending March 2012 - LRT0101 and LRT0106
Vehicle mileage decreased by less than passenger journeys during the pandemic as the Government provided funding support to the sector to ensure the continued running of services. This was initially to provide sufficient service provision for NHS staff and key workers, and subsequently to ensure that service levels were maintained while passenger numbers remained lower due to social distancing and home working requirements. This support ended during the year ending March 2023.
In London, vehicle mileage was 5.4 million miles in the year ending March 2023, up 4% from the previous year’s figure of 5.2 million miles.
In England outside London, vehicle mileage decreased by 2% from 15.7 million miles in the year ending March 2022 to 15.4 million miles in the year ending March 2023.
Comparing the year ending March 2023 with the year ending March 2019, all systems saw a reduction in vehicle mileage apart from Manchester Metrolink, for which vehicle mileage remained unchanged. The decreases for other systems ranged between 5% for Nottingham Express Transit and London Trams, to 27% for West Midlands Metro.
Chart 6 is a bar chart that shows that in the year ending March 2023, Manchester Metrolink had the highest vehicle mileage of all systems, at 8.0 million miles. This is likely to partly reflect the fact that when two tram sets are joined together to form one train, the vehicle miles are counted separately for each tram set for Manchester Metrolink. Other systems do not have this issue, and therefore the Manchester figures are not directly comparable to those of other systems.
Blackpool Tramway had the lowest vehicle mileage at 0.5 million miles. Several factors can affect these figures for individual systems, such as planned engineering works or technical issues such as those seen on West Midlands Metro during the years ending March 2022 and 2023. West Midlands Metro also saw a period of industrial action in October and November 2022, which will have had an impact on vehicle mileage.
Chart 6: Light rail and tram vehicle mileage (millions) by system: England, year ending March 2023 LRT0106
Manchester Metrolink counts vehicle mileage in a different way to other systems. When two tram sets are joined together to form one train, vehicle miles are counted twice (once for each tram set). Figures for Manchester are therefore not directly comparable to those for other systems. It is thought that the use of these double tram sets has increased in recent years, and now accounts for approximately half of all services run.
5. Infrastructure
Between the year ending March 2022 and the year ending March 2023, route miles and number of stops stayed the same on most systems in England. The exception to this was West Midlands Metro, which increased slightly due to the opening of the Edgbaston extension in July 2022. There were some small increases and decreases in the number of passenger carriages or tram cars on several systems.
Table 2: System summary (year ending March 2023)
| Length of system (miles) | Number of stops | Number of tram vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 220 | 413 | 549 |
| London systems | 41 | 84 | 181 |
| Docklands Light Railway | 24 | 45 | 146 |
| London Trams | 17 | 39 | 35 |
| England outside London systems | 179 | 329 | 368 |
| Nottingham Express Transit | 20 | 50 | 37 |
| West Midlands Metro | 14 | 31 | 32 |
| Sheffield Supertram | 21 | 50 | 32 |
| Tyne and Wear Metro | 48 | 60 | 92 |
| Manchester Metrolink | 64 | 99 | 147 |
| Blackpool Tramway | 11 | 39 | 28 |
6. Revenue
Chart 7 is a line chart that shows that light rail and tram passenger revenue increased by 30% of its year ending March 2022 value (in current prices, that is not adjusted for inflation) to £329 million in the year ending March 2023. This reflects the increased passenger numbers over this period.
Concessionary revenue decreased by 5% of its year ending March 2022 value (in current prices) to £28.7 million. Comparing the year ending March 2023 with the year ending March 2019, passenger revenue fell across all systems apart from Tyne and Wear Metro, where an increase in the local transport levy allocated to support the system meant that revenue increased by 2%.
Chart 7: Light rail and tram total and concessionary passenger revenue index: England, annually from year ending March 2012, at current prices LRT0301 and LRT0302
Unlike commercial revenue, which decreased significantly during the pandemic, most local authorities chose to maintain concessionary reimbursement at pre-pandemic levels in the year ending March 2021, with several maintaining these into the year ending March 2022. These payments, in conjunction with funding support from DfT, worked together to help ensure the continued operation of light rail services across the country.
Several local authorities changed their concessionary funding back to normal (pre-pandemic) arrangements in the year ending March 2023, so that it was based on concessionary passenger numbers. This is likely to explain the fall in concessionary revenue for some systems, as concessionary passenger numbers are still below pre-pandemic levels.
7. Workforce
These statistics are experimental statistics, reflecting the fact that they are new and we are working to improve the quality and comparability of them. We would welcome feedback on these statistics.
The figures show the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff employed by light rail and tram systems, including those contracted externally where possible. Where figures are not whole numbers, this is to take into account those working part-time.
The figures in this section are not National Statistics.
There were 1,162 light rail or tram drivers, 717 other on-board staff (such as conductors or ticket inspectors), and 979 maintenance staff employed by light rail and tram systems in England in the year ending March 2023.
Chart 8 is a bar chart showing that the biggest employers were Manchester Metrolink, Tyne and Wear Metro and Docklands Light Railway (DLR) with 967, 947 and 901 full time equivalent employees respectively. However, the DLR figure does not include cleaning staff, whereas figures for the other systems do.
There are variations in the types of staff employed by each system depending on the nature of the system. For example, the DLR does not employ any drivers as the trains are driverless, whereas London Trams does not employ any on-board staff other than the drivers.
Chart 8: Number of full time equivalent (FTE) staff on light rail and tram systems: England, year ending March 2023 LRT0501
Figures for the Docklands Light Railway do not include cleaning staff, and so are not directly comparable to those for other systems.
8. Light rail and tram passenger behaviour
Previous versions of this release have included data from the National Travel Survey (NTS), which gathers data on personal travel behaviour by households in England and can be used to analyse users of light rail and tram systems in areas where such systems exist. This analysis was based on combining several years of NTS data to provide a sufficient sample size to analyse trends.
Data collection for the NTS was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with lower response rates and substantial missing data around the start of the pandemic. Travel behaviours and the profile of survey respondents also changed significantly during the pandemic, meaning the findings will be less comparable to previous years. For these reasons, we are not providing updated analysis of passenger behaviour in relation to light rail and tram systems.
For previous analysis, please see the year ending March 2021 statistical release.
However, in response to user demand, we have added to the previous analysis of light rail and tram passengers covering the period 2012 to 2019. This is to include a breakdown by disability and ethnicity. As with previous analysis, this analysis is based only on those individuals who live in an area that contains a light rail or tram system, to avoid distorting the figures by including those who do not live near a system.
8.1 Ethnicity
During the period from 2012 to 2019, those from white ethnic backgrounds took more light rail or tram journeys than those from non-white backgrounds. In England outside London, those from white backgrounds took an average of 10.4 journeys per person per year, compared with only 6.1 for those from non-white backgrounds. In London the difference between ethnic groups was smaller, with those from white backgrounds taking an average of 10.9 journeys per person per year, whereas those from non-white backgrounds took an 9.2 journeys on average.
8.2 Disability
During 2012 to 2019, disabled people took about half as many journeys by light rail or tram compared with non-disabled people. In England as a whole, disabled individuals took 5.0 journeys per person per year on average, while non-disabled individuals took an average of 11.4 journeys. There was little difference in this trend between London and England outside London.
9. Passenger satisfaction
Transport Focus have not conducted any surveys of passenger experience on light rail and tram systems since the last release of this publication. Previous releases contained details of passenger satisfaction surveys conducted between 2018 and 2019.
10. Light rail and tram safety
The Office of Rail and Road publish information on passenger injuries on trams, metros and other non-Network Rail networks (such as heritage railways) in Great Britain. In the year ending March 2022 (the latest available data), there were 3 passenger fatalities resulting from collisions, an increase from none in the previous year. There were 36 severe injuries that required hospitalisation, which was higher than the 17 severe injuries in the year ending March 2021, but lower than other previous years. The increases observed since the year ending March 2021 are likely to be at least partly due to increased light rail and tram usage following the pandemic.
Further information can be found on the Office of Rail and Road website.
11. Proposed changes for 2024 publication
Proposed changes to table LRT0107 (average journey length)
For the 2024 light rail and tram statistical release, we are proposing to cease producing table LRT0107, which presents the average length of journey on light rail and tram systems. This is currently calculated by dividing total passenger distance travelled by the number of passengers. However, it has become clear that many systems use the same estimated figure for average journey length to calculate passenger distance each year. Therefore, the average journey length rarely changes year on year, and is based on an estimate rather than actual data. For this reason, we believe that it adds little value. Should users wish to calculate average journey length themselves, they will still be able to do so by dividing passenger distance by passenger boardings for each system.
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14. Background information
These statistics were designated as National Statistics in February 2013.
National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics.
They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure they meet customer needs. Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release are available.
Further information on data quality, including the methods used to compile these statistics, users and background information about the systems covered can be found in the quality report.
15. Further information
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16. Contact details
Light rail and tram statistics
Email localtransport.statistics@dft.gov.uk
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Media enquiries 0300 7777 878