Rail passenger numbers and crowding on weekdays in major cities in England and Wales: 2023
Published 19 September 2024
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2024
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About this release
This publication provides information on the number of passengers travelling by rail into and out of a number of major city centres in England and Wales. Due to high levels of rail passenger demand in Greater London compared to every other major city in England and Wales, further detail is provided on individual stations in central London.
The statistics are based on counts of passengers carried out in England and Wales between 18 September and 12 December 2023. Data was collected from franchised train operators at selected major cities across England and Wales. It does not include Open Access operators such as Heathrow Express and Grand Central.
This publication focuses on passenger numbers during the morning and evening peak hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, when rail travel tends to be busiest. The AM peak covers trains arriving into city centres between 07:00 and 09:59, whereas the PM peak reflects trains departing between 16:00 and 18:59. A city centre is defined using a cordon to include the major city centre stations. In some cases, passengers will not alight at the cordon station but are counted there. For crowding statistics, passengers are counted at the busiest station on the route when entering or leaving the city centre.
The loading at the busiest point for the 10 most crowded peak train services in England and Wales during the autumn period is also presented.
Headline figures
In autumn 2023, there were on average 1,774,400 daily passenger arrivals into major cities. This represents an increase of 197,700 passengers (13%) compared to autumn 2022. Of these daily arrivals in autumn 2023, 39% or 684,700 were in the morning peak (07:00 to 09:59).
London had the highest rail passenger numbers arriving into a city across the average day (1,137,800), over 10 times that of Birmingham (the second highest at 108,400).
A daily average of 150,100 passengers were standing during the AM peak in autumn 2023. This was 20% of the total daily average number of passengers travelling at this time, and represents an increase of 39% on the equivalent figure in autumn 2022. During the AM peak, train operators ran services with a daily seating capacity of 846,300 into major city centres, 2% higher than autumn 2022.
Accounting for standing capacity, 200 trains a day were ’crowded’ in autumn 2023 during the average AM or PM peak. This was 4.8% of all services travelling at those times, and represented an increase of 50% on autumn 2022. The total daily number of passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) was on average 14,400 in autumn 2023. This was 59% higher than the equivalent figure in autumn 2022. The average proportion of passengers in excess of capacity was 1.0% across both AM and PM peaks for all cities in 2023, a 0.3 percentage point (pp) increase from Autumn 2022.
Figure 1: Arrivals into Cities by Time of Day: Autumn 2023
On average in major cities including London during autumn 2023, there were 684,700 passenger arrivals during the AM peak, a 14% increase compared to 2022. Passengers travelled at slightly different times of the day compared to years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In London, 45% of daily arrivals were in the morning peak, the same proportion as in autumn 2022, but lower than the 55% in 2019. This fall in peak demand may be due to a decrease in commuting trips. For regional major cities, the AM and PM peaks are less pronounced than compared to levels before COVID-19. In 2023, 27% of arrivals occurred in the 3-hour morning peak, similar to the same period the previous year (26%).
Figure 2: Summary statistics on passenger numbers across major cities on a typical weekday in autumn 2023 (compared with autumn 2022)
The summary statistics on passenger numbers across major cities (Figure 2) shows:
- total all-day arrivals into all major cities including London totalled 1,774,400, a 13% increase compared to autumn 2022
- total AM peak arrivals into all major cities including London totalled 684,700, a 14% increase compared to autumn 2022
- total PM peak departures from all major cities including London totalled 660,200, a 17% increase compared to autumn 2022
- all-day arrivals into regional major cities (excluding London) totalled 636,700, a 10% increase compared to autumn 2022
- AM peak arrivals into regional major cities (excluding London) totalled 171,000, a 16% increase compared to autumn 2022
- PM peak departures from regional major cities (excluding London) totalled 200,300, a 17% increase compared to autumn 2022
- all-day arrivals into London stations totalled 1,137,800, a 14% increase compared to autumn 2022
- AM peak arrivals into London stations totalled 513,700, a 13% increase compared to autumn 2022
- PM peak departures from London stations totalled 459,900, a 16% increase compared to autumn 2022
All above figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
Rail passenger demand in major cities in England and Wales
In autumn 2023, there were on average 1,774,400 daily passenger arrivals into major cities. London remained the city with the largest number of daily arrivals with 1,137,800. This was an increase of 14% on the equivalent figure in autumn 2022. Outside London, the 3 cities in England and Wales with the highest number of daily arrivals are Birmingham (108,400), Reading (97,400), and Manchester (89,800).
Figure 3: All day passenger arrivals into major cities in England and Wales in 2022 and 2023, excluding London.
The average daily number of rail passengers arriving into major cities (outside London) in England and Wales was 636,700 in autumn 2023. Of these, 171,000 (27%) were during the AM peak.
Figure 4: All day passenger arrivals and AM peak arrivals into major cities in England and Wales in Autumn 2023, excluding London
The increase in all-day arrivals into cities outside London from autumn 2022 to autumn 2023 was 57,200 (10%) passengers per day. The city with the largest passenger increase in absolute terms was Manchester, where there was an increase of 13,000 daily arrivals between autumn 2022 and autumn 2023. The city with the greatest percentage increase in rail passenger arrivals was Nottingham which saw an increase of 32% in rail passenger arrivals. The only major city to see a decline in passenger arrivals was Brighton with a decrease of 600 passengers (2%) against autumn 2022, despite more services running. This reduction has accompanied a change in the counting method on Coastway services serving Brighton from manual counts to automatic counting technology, which saw sample sizes for counts on these routes grow from 1 to approximately 24.
Growth in daily arrivals into Liverpool was muted due to the temporary closure of the Kirkby Line, necessitating a reduction of services during Autumn 2023 as Headbolt Lane station was upgraded. The decline in PM peak departures out of Cardiff in 2023 relative to 2022 was driven by changes in demand for long distance services operating between Paddington and west Wales, given there were similar number of services departing on such routes in 2022 and 2023.
Figure 5: Comparison of Passenger Arrivals and Departures by City (outside London): Autumn 2023 as a percentage change compared to Autumn 2022
Rail passenger demand in Central London stations
Map 1: The stations in London where passenger counts are conducted, with the rail lines they serve.
Passenger numbers arriving into London are counted on arrival at the first station stop in Zone 1 of the TfL Travelcard area on route to London. For example, services terminating at Charing Cross or Cannon Street will be counted at London Bridge. Conversely, passengers departing London are counted at the final station from which a train departs before leaving Zone 1. Passenger numbers are taken from counts conducted on trains at the city centre stations themselves, including standard and first class rail passengers. All services on a ‘typical’ autumn day are counted.
An average of 1,137,800 rail passengers a day arrived into London city centre in autumn 2023. Of these, 45% (513,700) were during the AM peak. This ws higher than the equivalent figure outside London, suggesting commuter traffic plays a much larger role in the London metropolitan rail network than other cities in England and Wales.
Figure 6: Comparison of passenger Arrivals by London Station: Autumn 2023 compared to Autumn 2022
An additional 140,400 passengers arrived into London city centre in autumn 2023 than the equivalent figure in autumn 2022, representing an increase of 14%. The London station with the largest passenger arrivals was Liverpool Street with 255,400 daily arrivals.
Figure 7: Passenger Arrivals, all day and AM peak, by London Station: autumn 2023
For more information on passenger arrivals into and departures from Liverpool Street please see the section on the Elizabeth Line.
Seating capacity
In autumn 2023, train operators ran services into major cities in England and Wales, including London, with a daily seating capacity of 4,253,500 approximately 43,300 (1%) higher than that of 2022.
Of all regional cities (excluding London), Birmingham had the most all-day arrival seating capacity with 288,800 seats (a 3% reduction compared to 2022), followed by Manchester with 275,300 seats (a 4.6% increase compared to 2022) and Reading with 261,600 seats (a 3.9% reduction compared to 2022). Total daily seat capacity for services arriving and departing regional cities in 2023 was 3,726,000 (a 2.5% increase compared to 2022).
Figure 8: Total Seating capacity (standard and first class) for all daily arrivals and departures in regional major cities: autumn 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023
Social distancing capacity in 2020 is shown as a proportion of total (potential available) capacity. For some cities served predominately by commuting services, the proportion of total seating capacity accounting for social distancing capacity is likely to be overstated, due to a standing allowance being included in the social distancing capacity. Cities served predominately by long distance services only have a seating social distance capacity and thus are more representative as a proportion of the total 2020 capacity.
Total daily seating capacity into London in autumn 2023 was 2,394,500 seats, approximately 200 (0.01%) higher than autumn 2022. This was over 8 times higher than the seating capacity arriving into Birmingham (the second highest at 288,800 daily seats arriving). The London station with the greatest daily seating capacity was London Bridge, with 509,700 seats arriving every day (21% of all London arrival capacity). However, this represents a reduction of 30,300 seats (6%) arriving at London Bridge from autumn 2022. This reduction was due to timetable changes reducing the number of trains on the Greenwich and Sidcup lines.
Figure 9: Total Seating capacity (standard and first class) for all daily arrivals and departures at London Stations: autumn 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023
Passengers standing
This section provides statistics on the number of passengers standing during the AM and PM peaks. For each service, the number of passengers standing is calculated as the difference between the standard class critical load and the number of standard class seats. The critical load point is the location where the passenger load on a service is highest on arrival at (AM peak) or on departure from (PM peak) a city. For each train operator the number of passengers standing are aggregated for all services at each city and are expressed as a percentage of the total standard class critical load.
In autumn 2023, a daily average of 259,700 rail passengers were standing during the morning and afternoon peaks in and out of major cities in England and Wales. This represents 18.1% of all rail passengers travelling on these services, an increase of 4.3 pp on the equivalent figure in autumn 2022.
Table 1: Passengers standing across both peaks by city, autumn 2023, with percentage point (pp) change against autumn 2022
| City | Total Standing 2023 | Percent Standing | Change from 2022 (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | 5,755 | 7.8% | +3.1 pp |
| Brighton | 102 | 0.8% | -3.6 pp |
| Bristol | 515 | 2.8% | +1.9 pp |
| Cambridge | 348 | 2.0% | +1.6 pp |
| Cardiff | 615 | 2.8% | -1.0 pp |
| Leeds | 1,730 | 4.1% | +1.8 pp |
| Leicester | 805 | 7.2% | +2.6 pp |
| Liverpool | 3,755 | 10.9% | +8.5 pp |
| Manchester | 2,437 | 4.3% | +2.7 pp |
| Newcastle | 1,078 | 10.0% | +10.0 pp |
| Nottingham | 370 | 4.3% | -1.3 pp |
| Reading | 191 | 0.5% | +0.2 pp |
| Sheffield | 300 | 2.2% | +0.7 pp |
| All cities outside London | 18,022 | 4.9% | +2.4 pp |
| London | 241,742 | 22.6% | +4.9 pp |
| Total | 259,744 | 18.1% | +4.3 pp |
Major cities outside London overall had 4.9% passengers standing, a 2.4 pp increase in the proportion of passengers standing during peak hours on the previous year. Compared to the previous autumn, there were increases in the proportion of passengers standing during peak travel times in the majority of regional cities. The greatest increase was at Newcastle (up 10.0 pp), Liverpool (up 8.5 pp) [footnote 1], and Birmingham (up 3.1 pp).
Table 2: Passengers standing across AM peak by city, autumn 2023, with percentage point (pp) change against autumn 2022
| City | Total Standing 2023 | Percent Standing | Change from 2022 (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | 2,922 | 8.5% | +2.6 pp |
| Brighton | 101 | 1.7% | -2.7 pp |
| Bristol | 177 | 2.1% | +1.8 pp |
| Cambridge | 344 | 4.1% | +3.2 pp |
| Cardiff | 246 | 2.3% | -0.1 pp |
| Leeds | 973 | 4.9% | +2.4 pp |
| Leicester | 154 | 3.5% | +1.6 pp |
| Liverpool | 1,780 | 11.2% | +9.4 pp |
| Manchester | 1,574 | 5.8% | +3.6 pp |
| Newcastle | 466 | 11.0% | +11.0 pp |
| Nottingham | 76 | 2.0% | -0.9 pp |
| Reading | 26 | 0.1% | -0.1 pp |
| Sheffield | 140 | 2.3% | +1.8 pp |
| All cities outside London | 8,978 | 5.3% | +2.7 pp |
| London | 141,087 | 24.9% | +4.0 pp |
| Total | 150,065 | 20.4% | +3.7 pp |
In London, 24.9% of rail passengers were standing during the AM peak. This was 4.0 pp higher than the equivalent figure in autumn 2022. The station within London with the highest proportion of passengers standing during the AM peak was Liverpool Street with 39%, 4.0 pp higher than autumn 2022. The city with the highest proportion of passengers standing during the AM peak was Liverpool with 11.2%, 9.4 pp higher than autumn 2022 due to changes in capacity on Merseyrail services. [footnote 1]
Table 3: Passengers standing across AM peak by London station, autumn 2023, with percentage point (pp) change against autumn 2022
| Station | Total Standing 2023 | Percent Standing | Change from 2022 (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elephant and Castle (for Blackfriars) | 6,481 | 36.7% | +1.5 pp |
| Euston | 3,863 | 16.6% | -0.6 pp |
| Fenchurch Street | 4,676 | 16.8% | +1.7 pp |
| King’s Cross | 1,219 | 11.3% | +0.1 pp |
| Liverpool Street | 49,880 | 38.8% | +4.4 pp |
| London Bridge | 21,967 | 19.3% | +2.7 pp |
| Marylebone | 1,250 | 11.4% | +0.6 pp |
| Old Street (for Moorgate) | 4,984 | 35.8% | +3.7 pp |
| Paddington | 14,545 | 34.6% | +8.4 pp |
| St. Pancras | 6,857 | 16.4% | +4.5 pp |
| Vauxhall (for Waterloo) | 19,055 | 23.1% | +3.6 pp |
| Victoria | 6,310 | 11.8% | +3.8 pp |
| London total | 141,087 | 24.9% | +4.0 pp |
In autumn 2023, nearly 1 in 4 passengers (24.9%) were standing on a service arriving into London within the morning peak. This was a 4.0 pp increase from 2022. Paddington had the largest increase in the proportion of passengers standing during the morning peak compared with 2022 (8.4 pp), while Liverpool Street had the largest percentage standing overall (38.8%). Both these stations are served by the Elizabeth Line, and these figures likely reflect increased usage on Elizabeth Line services. Please see the section on the Elizabeth Line below for more details.
Passenger crowding
Historically, rail traffic in the UK has been heavily dominated by peak commuting flows. Therefore, there is a need to clearly identify loadings during peak periods. The crowding statistics are based on services arriving into cities in the 3-hour morning peak (07:00 to 09:59) and departing from cities in the 3-hour afternoon peak (16:00 to 18:59).
Crowding statistics only include standard class passengers and are based on passenger counts at the ‘critical load point’. The critical load point is the location where the passenger load on a service is highest on arrival at (AM peak) or on departure from (PM peak) a city. Crowding is measured by comparing the standard class critical load with the capacity of the service. The standard class capacity includes the number of standard class seats on the service and may include an allowance for standing room.
The number of passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) is the difference between the standard class passenger load and the standard class capacity (or zero if the number of passengers is lower than the capacity). The total number of PiXC are aggregated for all services at each city and are expressed as a percentage of the total standard class load.
Across both peaks, the total PiXC was 1% in autumn 2023, with a range between 0% at Brighton to 6.6% at Marylebone. This represents an increase of 0.3 percentage points on autumn 2022. Crowding across both peaks in 2023 was still 2.1 pp lower than in 2019.
Table 4: PiXC across both peaks by city: autumn 2023, with percentage point (pp) change against autumn 2022
| City | Total PiXC 2023 | Percent PiXC | Change from 2022 (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | 1,138 | 1.5% | +0.7 pp |
| Brighton | 0 | 0.0% | +0.0 pp |
| Bristol | 249 | 1.4% | +1.0 pp |
| Cambridge | 4 | <0.1% | +0.0 pp |
| Cardiff | 168 | 0.8% | -0.7 pp |
| Leeds | 152 | 0.4% | -0.1 pp |
| Leicester | 100 | 0.9% | +0.8 pp |
| Liverpool | 0 | 0.0% | -0.1 pp |
| Manchester | 161 | 0.3% | +0.0 pp |
| Newcastle | 232 | 2.1% | +2.1 pp |
| Nottingham | 42 | 0.5% | -1.3 pp |
| Reading | 71 | 0.2% | +0.2 pp |
| Sheffield | 151 | 1.1% | +0.4 pp |
| All cities outside London | 2,468 | 0.7% | +0.2 pp |
The city with the highest level of crowding was Newcastle, with a PiXC of 2.1%. This was the largest annual increase in PiXC, which comes alongside a change in counting methodology on the Durham Coast and Tyne Valley lines, which utilised Mobile Network Data.
Table 5: PiXC across both peaks by London station: autumn 2023, with percentage point (pp) change against autumn 2022
| Station | Total PiXC 2023 | Percent PiXC | Change from 2022 (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elephant and Castle (for Blackfriars) | 168 | 0.6% | +0.6 pp |
| Euston | 987 | 2.1% | -0.9 pp |
| Fenchurch Street | 176 | 0.3% | -1.1 pp |
| King’s Cross | 805 | 3.7% | +3.7 pp |
| Liverpool Street | 288 | 0.1% | +0.1 pp |
| London Bridge | 1,236 | 0.6% | -0.2 pp |
| Marylebone | 1,307 | 6.6% | -0.5 pp |
| Old Street (for Moorgate) | 0 | 0.0% | -0.1 pp |
| Paddington | 99 | 0.1% | -0.4 pp |
| St. Pancras | 1,381 | 1.8% | +0.7 pp |
| Vauxhall (for Waterloo) | 5,172 | 3.4% | +2.1 pp |
| Victoria | 311 | 0.3% | +0.3 pp |
| London total | 11,929 | 1.1% | +0.3 pp |
The London station with the highest proportion of passengers in excess of capacity was Marylebone, with a PiXC of 6.6% across both peaks. The London station with the largest annual increase in passenger crowding was King’s Cross where PiXC increased 3.7 pp.
The 10 busiest trains in England and Wales
The load factor of a train service is calculated by dividing the passenger load in standard class carriages by the total capacity in standard class carriages (total standard seats and standing allowance). For shorter journeys, where the journey time between stations is 20 minutes or fewer, a standing allowance may be applied depending on the rolling stock. For services where the journey time is greater than 20 minutes no standing allowance is permitted regardless of rolling stock.
Data on individual train services is subject to significantly greater sampling error than averages for stations and cities. On many services, only 3 or 4 counts are taken and in some cases only a single passenger count has been conducted during the count period. Statistics on individual services may not be representative of typical trends, and this list should be referenced alongside the aggregate statistics for trends in crowding. In addition, the autumn 2023 data were collected prior to the December 2023 timetable change and do not provide a guide to current crowding. However, it is recognised that there is a demand for this type of data.
The 10 peak hours services in England and Wales with the highest load factor are detailed below, with commentary and context provided by the train operator running the service. Any qualitative evidence within this contextual text has not been validated and does not constitute official statistics. Similarly, any views or opinions stated therein are the operator’s and do not reflect the departmental position. Inclusion of this text does not constitute government endorsement of the evidence or views presented.
Table 6: The 10 rail services in England and Wales with the highest load factor
| Train operating company (TOC) | Service Description | Point of Maximum Load | Maximum Load Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thameslink | 07:33 Bedford to 09:28 Three Bridges | London St. Pancras International | 204% |
Context:
Govia Thameslink Railway increased the 07:33 Bedford to Three Bridges (arriving in London St. Pancras at 08:24) train to operate with 12-coaches providing an additional 237 seats and space for an additional 618 passengers overall – as a result more passengers can be seated and now has on average, 187 standing passengers (129%). The average number of passengers using the service has increased slightly to 835 passengers.
| Train operating company (TOC) | Service Description | Point of Maximum Load | Maximum Load Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chiltern Railways | 07:46 Prince’s Risborough to 08:38 London Marylebone | London Marylebone | 165% |
Context:
Chiltern Railways has launched their 2030 Vision to improve punctuality, seating capacity and on board facilities for customers. Their June 2024 timetable introduced additional peak services in Buckinghamshire to help reduce crowding on midweek services. Chiltern Railways are also doing everything possible to get more trains onto their network and replace their oldest trains with newer, more reliable models, and have an active business case with the Department for Transport (DfT) to bring additional carriages into service over the next 12 months.
| Train operating company (TOC) | Service Description | Point of Maximum Load | Maximum Load Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transport for Wales | 14:57 Gloucester to 17:07 Maesteg | Cardiff Central | 162% |
Context:
The Gloucester to Maesteg service is at its busiest between Cardiff and Bridgend and Transport for Wales are making some changes to their timetable in December which they are confident will spread out demand across several services.
| Train operating company (TOC) | Service Description | Point of Maximum Load | Maximum Load Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Western Railway | 06:10 Portsmouth Harbour to 07:54 London Waterloo | Vauxhall | 157% |
Context:
This service is specifically busy between Guildford/Woking and London Waterloo. Following the introduction of the Arterio fleet, SWR plans to increase this train to 12 coaches (the maximum possible length) in December 2024, adding a further 126 standard seats.
| Train operating company (TOC) | Service Description | Point of Maximum Load | Maximum Load Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Midlands Trains | 17:46 London Euston to 19:57 Crewe | London Euston | 155% |
Context:
This service was introduced in December 2014 as part of London Midland’s ‘peak 110mph’ service launch, which was accompanied by the introduction of 10 new class 350/3 trains. The train is booked to operate with 8 cars, which is the longest formation currently in use for weekday services on the Trent Valley route. As a result of the service running non-stop to Milton Keynes, a journey of longer than 20 minutes from London Euston, a standing allowance is not taken into account when determining the capacity of this train.
There are no scheduled changes for this particular service at present, although West Midlands Trains will continue to monitor and review the situation. Withdrawal of First Class accommodation from West Midlands Trains services did however make an additional 48 seats available to standard class passengers on this train from May 2023, while wider timetable revisions in December 2022 and subsequently have been designed to make the best use of the capacity available to West Midlands Trains for services operating to and from London Euston.
Further timetable capacity enhancements are currently planned for introduction across the West Midlands Trains network, comprising a series of service initiatives in relation to the introduction of new Class 730 trains on the West Coast Main Line. It is anticipated that these schemes should lead to an increase in capacity provision, both on the Trent Valley route specifically, and to and from London Euston overall.
| Train operating company (TOC) | Service Description | Point of Maximum Load | Maximum Load Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thameslink | 07:03 Bedford to 08:59 Three Bridges | London St. Pancras International | 155% |
Context:
Govia Thameslink Railway has also introduced an additional train (07:15 Bedford to Three Bridges arriving St. Pancras at 08:09) calling at Leagrave, Luton, Harpenden and St Albans giving passengers more choice, able to travel slightly earlier. This train is formed of 8-cars and has provided an additional 401 seats on the route and space for an additional 1,101 passengers in the popular high peak hour. This has also reduced demand on the 07:54 arrival.
| Train operating company (TOC) | Service Description | Point of Maximum Load | Maximum Load Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Western Railway | 18:30 London Waterloo to 20:12 Portsmouth Harbour | Vauxhall | 154% |
Context:
This service is specifically busy between London Waterloo and Woking. Following the introduction of the Arterio fleet, South Western Railway plans to increase this train to 12 coaches (the maximum possible length) in December 2024, adding a further 126 standard seats.
| Train operating company (TOC) | Service Description | Point of Maximum Load | Maximum Load Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Western Railway | 07:14 Alton to 08:22 London Waterloo | Vauxhall | 152% |
Context:
This service is specifically busy between Woking and London Waterloo. It is already 12 coaches (the maximum possible length).
| Train operating company (TOC) | Service Description | Point of Maximum Load | Maximum Load Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chiltern Railways | 06:14 Stourbridge Junction to 08:42 London Marylebone | London Marylebone | 151% |
Context:
Chiltern Railways has launched their 2030 Vision to improve punctuality, seating capacity and on board facilities for customers. Their June 2024 timetable introduced additional peak services in Buckinghamshire to help reduce crowding on midweek services. Chiltern Railways are also doing everything possible to get more trains onto their network and replace their oldest trains with newer, more reliable models, and have an active business case with the DfT to bring additional carriages into service over the next 12 months.
| Train operating company (TOC) | Service Description | Point of Maximum Load | Maximum Load Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thameslink | 07:30 Bedford to 09:40 Three Bridges | London St. Pancras International | 150% |
Context:
Govia Thameslink Railway are strengthening the 07:03 Bedford to London St. Pancras arriving 07:54 (continuing to East Grinstead) from 8-coaches to 12-coaches at the December 2024 timetable change.
These 10 services are not representative of the average train service in autumn 2023. The average load factor of a midweek train service was 29%. Across both AM and PM peaks, the average load factor rose to 53%.
Figure 10: Distribution of load factor across midweek London peak services, autumn 2023
The mean load factor for services arriving and departing London during peak periods was 62% of the maximum allowable standard class passenger capacity in 2023. Approximately 93% of all London peak services had a load factor less than 100%. This was higher than in autumn 2019 when 82% of peak London services had a load factor less than 100%.
Rail passenger journeys in Scotland
The majority of rail services in Scotland are operated by ScotRail on behalf of the Scottish Government. Between October and December 2023 an estimated 20.9 million passenger journeys took place on ScotRail, an increase of 34% on the equivalent figure between October and December 2022. This was larger than the increase for non-ScotRail operators, where rail usage increased by 19% between 332.5 million passenger journeys in October to December 2022 to 396.5 million in the same period in 2023.
Rail passenger count statistics are not available for ScotRail trains, as the question of how best to count and report passenger numbers on specific trains is currently under review by the operator. A list of busiest trains in Scotland can be found on the ScotRail website Busiest trains | ScotRail.
For information on these statistics, please contact transtat@transport.gov.scot.
Elizabeth Line
The headline figures of this publication focus on arrivals into, and departures from, major cities. Passenger numbers arriving into London are counted on arrival at the first station stop in Zone 1 of the TfL Travelcard area on route to London. For example, services arriving and terminating at Charing Cross or Cannon Street will be counted at London Bridge. Passengers departing London are counted at the final station from which a train leaves Zone 1. This means that for eastbound services on the Elizabeth Line, arrivals are counted at Paddington and departures are counted at Liverpool Street. The converse is the case for westbound services.
Daily passenger arrivals into London on the Elizabeth Line increased from 193,400 in autumn 2022 to 256,200 in autumn 2023. This increase was larger than any other operator. Liverpool Street saw an increase of 43,200 daily arrivals between autumn 2022 and 2023. This was the largest increase for a London station in this period. The second largest increase was Paddington, with a year-on-year increase of 29,400 arrivals per day. The majority of arrivals into both these stations are on Elizabeth Line services.
Usage patterns across the day are similar on the Elizabeth Line to the rest of the rail network in England and Wales. Of all arrivals to London Liverpool Street, London Paddington and Reading on the Elizabeth Line, 37% were during the AM peak and 37% of departures were in the PM peak. These values are within 1% of the equivalent figures for the rail network as a whole. However, the proportion of daily arrivals on the Elizabeth Line in the morning peak was lower than London as a whole (45%).
Across both peaks, 55.6% of passengers on the Elizabeth Line were standing. Standing capacity is calculated to be 4 passengers per square metre, resulting in very large total capacities on these services. As such, despite the high volume of passengers served, very few services recorded passenger counts exceeding capacity.
Figure 11: Liverpool Street westbound passenger arrivals and eastbound departures on-peak and off-peak services, split by type of count (origin departure, destination arrival, through service) autumn 2022 and autumn 2023
In autumn 2023, the number of passengers that arrived on services that terminated at Liverpool Street (86,800) was slightly more (13%) than the previous year (76,600). In addition, 168,600 (compared to 135,000 in autumn 2022) passengers that arrived into Liverpool Street on services that carried on through London, of which 64,200 (38%) of these were during the AM peak and 104,300 (62%) were at other times of the day.
Figure 12: Paddington eastbound passenger arrivals and westbound departures on-peak and off-peak services, split by type of count (origin departure, destination arrival, through service), autumn 2022 and autumn 2023
In autumn 2023, the number of passengers that arrived on services that terminated at Paddington (44,400) was slightly more (4%) than the previous year (42,600). With the opening of the Elizabeth Line, there were an additional 77,900 passengers that arrived into Paddington on services that carried on through London. Of these, 35% were during the AM peak.
Figure 13: Paddington arrivals and seating capacity arriving from inside the London cordon (westbound arrivals), and departing into the London cordon (eastbound departures), autumn 2023
The above chart shows the number of passengers and total seating arriving into Paddington station westbound from Central London, and departures from Paddington Eastbound into Central London. In autumn 2023, the number of passengers arriving into Paddington from westbound services was 121,800. Of these, 21,400 (18%) were during the AM peak. The total seating capacity was 136,000 seats of which 27,200 were during the morning peak.
Rail trends and changes in rail passenger numbers since 2019
In the spring of 2020, the UK was placed under lockdown measures designed to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. This had a negative effect on passenger rail demand. These measures continued to influence demand into 2021 although there was a recovery in rail use as measures were incrementally removed. This recovery continued in 2022 and 2023, but passenger numbers remain slightly below levels observed in 2019. A total of 417 million rail passenger journeys were made in Great Britain in autumn 2023 (1 October to 31 December 2023), 10% lower than the 461 million journeys made in autumn 2019. When removing journeys taken on the Elizabeth Line, which was not fully completed until 2022, rail usage in autumn 2023 was 20% lower than the 447 million journeys taken in autumn 2019.
Figure 14: Long-term Trends: Annual (April to March) Passenger Rail Usage in Great Britain (millions) 1999 to 2000, to 2022 to 2023
In autumn 2019, there were 1,844,700 daily rail passenger arrivals into major cities in England and Wales. This was 73,300 (4%) higher than the equivalent figure in autumn 2023, including the Elizabeth Line. This figure rises to 326,500 more daily arrivals in 2019 compared to 2023 if the Elizabeth Line is excluded from the comparison. Train operators ran services into major cities with a total of 4,556,800 seats in autumn 2019, 7% higher than the equivalent figure in autumn 2023.
Rail demand recovery has been faster during off-peak hours. In the AM peak, there were 684,700 daily rail passenger arrivals into major cities in autumn 2023. This was 18% lower than the equivalent figure in autumn 2019. Across the rest of the day, there were 1,089,700 arrivals, 8% higher than the equivalent figure in autumn 2019. In autumn 2019, 45% of passenger arrivals into major cities in England and Wales occurred in the AM peak. In autumn 2023 this figure was 39%.
Figure 15: Comparison of total daily arrivals, am peak and off peak, autumn 2023 compared to autumn 2019
London remained by far the city with the most daily passenger arrivals, and there was evidence the gap was expanding. The 3 cities outside London with the highest rail passenger demand in autumn 2019 were:
- London (1,112,200 daily arrivals)
- Birmingham (135,800)
- Manchester (107,100)
In autumn 2023, the top 3 were:
- London (1,137,700 daily arrivals)
- Birmingham (108,400)
- Reading (97,400)
Arrivals into London have grown by 2%. Outside London, arrivals have declined by 13%.
Figure 16: Comparison of total daily arrivals, autumn 2023 and autumn 2019, by London and Regional Cities
Levels of passenger crowding were lower in 2023 than 2019. In autumn 2019, 3.1% of passengers were in excess of capacity, which declined to 1.0% in autumn 2023. However, 16.4% of passengers were standing during the AM peak in 2019 and 18.1% were standing across both peaks in 2023. This result can be partially attributed to the Elizabeth Line, which saw very little overcrowding and very high levels of standing passengers.
Figure 17: Comparison of all day Passenger Arrivals by Regional City: autumn 2017 to autumn 2023
In autumn 2023, all-day arrivals recovered on average by 10% in major cities (outside London) relative to autumn 2022, although were still 13% lower than 2019 all-day arrivals. The cities with the largest percentage increases in all-day arrivals in autumn 2023 compared to the previous year were:
- Nottingham (32%)
- Leicester (23%)
- Newcastle (22%)
Rail journey distributions
In 2023, rail journeys to and from London stations were more evenly spread throughout the day than in the pre-pandemic profile, mirroring the profile in 2022, albeit moving slightly back towards the peaks of 2019. The typical peaks (seen before COVID-19) ‘flattened’ slightly in both London and regional cities.
Figure 18: Percentage of Passenger Arrivals and Departures by Hour, London stations: autumn 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023
In 2019, the distribution of journeys into and out of London was defined by 2 peaks, a larger more pronounced one during AM peak hours and a slightly shorter and wider one in the evening. This pattern was affected during 2020 and 2021 as fewer commuters travel into and out of London.
In autumn 2023, 1,137,800 passengers arrived into Central London. Of these, 45% were made in the morning peak. In autumn 2019, there were 1,112,200 arrivals, of which, 55% were during the 3-hour morning peak.
Figure 19: Percentage of Passenger Arrivals and Departures by Hour, Regional Major Cities: autumn 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023
For regional major cities, the 2-peak distribution was less pronounced than compared to pre-COVID-19. In 2023, 27% of arrivals occurred in the 3-hour morning peak, 1 pp more than the same proportion as the same period the previous year (26%).
A larger proportion of passengers travelled in the evening peak (31%) in cities outside London than the morning peak, possibly due to a greater proportion of leisure journeys.
International comparisons
Data on passenger crowding is not published for countries comparable to the United Kingdom. Data on passenger rail demand in the European Union is collected by Eurostat. During the calendar year 2023 in major G7 economies within the European Union, there were:
- 2.7 billion passenger journeys in Germany
- 1.2 billion in France
- 0.8 billion in Italy
Between 2022 and 2023, the quantity of rail passenger journeys increased by:
- 7% in Germany
- 8% in France
- 17% in Italy
Figure 20: Rail Passengers Transported by European Country, 2022 and 2023
During the calendar year 2023, 1.6 billion passenger journeys took place in Great Britain
This was a growth of 20% on the previous year. Statistics on passenger rail usage in Northern Ireland for the calendar year 2023 have not been published. Between April 2022 and March 2023 12.9 million passenger journeys took place by rail in Northern Ireland. More details can be found at Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland 2022 and 2023 published by the Department for Infrastructure.
Contextual information of Train Operators
This section includes contextual information provided by train operators.
Autumn 2023 provided a range of challenges for train operators. The period included industrial action.
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast ran a consistent timetable throughout the period. ASLEF Driver strikes saw abnormal loadings on the days prior and after the strike affected dates with passenger moving their travel. Throughout the autumn, Euston Half Station closures on majority of weekends saw reduced platform capacity and therefore reduced the amount of services we can run, most notably on the Manchester route resulting in increased passenger loadings on our services. Other Network engineering across the weekends also affected our timetable and passenger loadings
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways has launched our 2030 Vision to improve punctuality, seating capacity and on board facilities for customers. Their June 2024 timetable introduced additional peak services in Buckinghamshire to help reduce crowding on a midweek service. Chiltern Railways are also doing everything possible to get more trains onto their network and replace their oldest trains with newer, more reliable models, and have an active business case with the DfT to bring additional carriages into service over the next 12 months.
Cross Country
Cross Country experienced 8 days of industrial action during the count period. Engineering works and disruption were present on 22 count days. Counts conducted on these days have been removed from the averages. Cross Country passenger numbers are based on counts conducted manually by on-board personnel, with an average of 30 counts per service.
East Midlands Railway
East Midlands Railway continued to see strong growth in passenger demand during the autumn 23 count period, with total passenger journeys up 14% on the previous year.
The North-West end of the Liverpool to Norwich route was particularly affected by issues other operators were experiencing, with more customers moving to EMR services as a result of late notice cancellations.
The cascade of the Class 156s and 180s out was completed prior to the start of the count period whilst the cascade in of Class 170s continued throughout. As a result of these changes, booked coaches increased on Regional routes but was offset by a reduction in booked coaches on the Intercity route. Overall, booked Standard Class seats increased by 9.7% compared to the autumn 2022 count period. EMR added further capacity to some Liverpool to Norwich route services from the December 2023 timetable.
Govia Thameslink Railway
Leisure travel is bouncing back very strongly after the pandemic with weekend travel now higher than pre-covid on most routes. Journeys to Brighton are now busier on Saturdays than weekdays. Commuter travel returned in smaller numbers but is growing fast. Businesses have found more efficient ways of working with less travel, for example, working from home and hybrid work, with Mondays and Friday peaks significantly quieter than the rest of the week. However, the increase of leisure travel is increasing Friday afternoon demand especially at Brighton.
Greater Anglia
Greater Anglia continues to actively monitor demand and changing travel patterns, responding where appropriate to improve the customer experience, now that our entire fleet is fitted with automated passenger counting equipment. Leisure demand is noticeably stronger at weekends while weekday Commuting traffic remains below pre-Pandemic levels with some routes more noticeable than others in this respect. Commuting remains lower on both Mondays and Fridays, with the highest demand Midweek, although Mondays are getting busier again in 2024, while ongoing industrial action has led to reduced demand during weeks with strikes or action short of a strike. Completion of the Elizabeth Line in 2023 provides easier access from East Anglia to other parts of London. Further timetable improvements will be introduced during 2024 and 2025 to reflect evolving demand patterns.
Great Western Railway
Ticket sales data shows that the number of passenger journeys made across the Great Western Railway network has increased in the last year, with Saturdays seeing particularly strong growth and Thursdays seeing an increase in both leisure travel and commuting, but services are generally busier throughout the week.
Great Western report that they have reduced the number of overcrowded trains since Spring 2023 by carefully targeting limited resources to match the changes in passengers’ travel patterns since COVID-19. Since the Spring 2024 counts were taken, 3 additional services have been introduced specifically to reduce crowding: 2 evening services from London to Bristol Parkway to help commuters, and a lunchtime ‘relief’ train to Devon to cater for the increasing number of leisure passengers. To manage future growth while limiting crowding Great Western Railway are investigating ways of enhancing services within the constraints of the available rolling stock.
LNER
Excluding the instances of industrial action during autumn 2023, LNER’s journey numbers are consistently above the level seen before COVID-19. This increase is driven by the recovery of Leisure demand which is over 20% larger in journey terms. Business journey demand remains below levels seen before COVID-19 but is showing year-on-year increases. Anglo-Scottish services have seen improved recovery compared to LNER’s services, primarily due to the higher Leisure demand on these services. The majority of LNER’s services are comprised of the Azuma fleet.
Northern
During this autumn season, Northern observed an increased number of cancellations because of continued industrial action, serious weather events and higher sickness absence. These impacted their ability to run the service their customers deserve. The new timetable that was introduced in May 2023 and ran through to December saw Northern extend length of some trains in North West and Yorkshire to meet demand within the existing fleet size although lengthening trains are dependent on platform lengths which can limit number of carriages they can operate.
TransPennine Express
There were 7 days which were affected by strike action and several other days effected by action short of a strike during the count period. Engineering work for the Transpennine Route Upgrade project which is improving the line between Manchester and York had a particularly large effect on the number of typical days to be used. In addition to this, there was an incident on the Plessey Viaduct, between Newcastle and Edinburgh, which caused an alteration to the long-term plan as services could not pass over the viaduct for 27 days. Dates impacted by the aforementioned disruption have been removed from the raw count data.
South Eastern Trains
Due to late-night engineering works around London Bridge, several Southeastern trains were rerouted to and from London Charing Cross and London Cannon Street. This also affected the number of counts that were able to be performed at these stations. Southeastern primarily use automatic passenger counting (APC) equipment but a minority of counts are manually performed by on-board personnel. Some changes were made to the timetable in December 2023, including the introduction of more class 707 stock in service. A further recast of the timetable, providing a more even spread of trains, rather than bunching of services on certain routes has been in place from June 2024.
South Western Railway
While commuter demand is roughly two-thirds of levels seen before COVID-19, the concentration of the peak on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays can lead to high demand on specific services. This is particularly seen at the London end of long-distance services, which often provide the fastest non-stop route to Waterloo from locations such as Woking. South Western Railway has been continually monitoring demand to redeploy its fleet to strengthen capacity where it is most needed. The phased rollout of its new fleet of 90 Arterio trains will commence in autumn 2024, which will considerably strengthen capacity on the suburban network and free up units to strengthen other services.
London Overground
London Overground saw further growth in the year leading up to autumn 2023 as demand continued to recover from the effects of the pandemic, demonstrating the underlying strength of rail travel demand in the capital. No significant changes to services were introduced over this year but the network continues to benefit from the enhancements introduced just before and during the pandemic on various routes including the Mildmay Line, the Suffragette Line, the Lioness Line and the Weaver Line. Total demand recorded on the network in 2023 and 2024 was 97% of the level achieved before the pandemic in 2019 and 2020.
Elizabeth Line
The Elizabeth Line has continued to prove its value as an integral part of the capital’s transport network. The full timetable was introduced in May 2023, widening the range of new journey opportunities opened up by the network which was the second most used operator in Britain in 2023 and 2024, behind only Govia Thameslink Railway. Growth has been particularly marked on the western routes to Reading and Heathrow, plans are being made to provide extra capacity to address this and serve the new interchange at Old Oak Common.
Transport for Wales
Transport for Wales understand that travelling on a very busy service is not ideal and they have been investing significantly in new rolling stock over recent years to help manage demand.
Typically peak times are the same through major towns and cities so Transport for Wales report trying to ensure as many of their carriages are in service at these times as possible.
Transport for Wales report that they will continue to review customer demand to best allocate trains to particular routes to deliver the best possible customer experience.
Merseyrail
Merseyrail are near completion in the transfer to a fully new fleet replacing 50x fleet which was over 40 years old with new bespoke 777 fleet designed for the third rail operations. The 777 are fully equipped with passenger counting equipment and provide level access with a revolutionary sliding step increasing capacity by around 60%. In the last 12 months a variant of the fleet the 777 IMPEU has expanded the Merseyrail network beyond its third rail constraints to a new station north of Kirkby called Headbolt Lane by utilising battery technology- this will allow further expansions beyond current network and business cases are being worked through the most exciting of which could be an extension of network through to Wrexham operated on battery powered 777 . Merseyrail continue to see strong post COVID-19 recovery driven by a growth in leisure travel and a small decline in commuter passengers.
Due to technical issues with the rollout of the new 777 fleet, a reduced number of trains per hour were operated on the Headbolt Lane branch of the Northern Line, which is likely to have decreased passenger usage. This has also affected how passenger numbers are calculated on this branch due to the difficulty of acquiring accurate estimates. Please see the accompanying notes and definitions document for more information.
West Midlands Trains
West Midlands Trains’ passenger count data for autumn 2023 were collated from a mix of scheduled manual surveys and loadings derived from automatic passenger counting (APC) equipment, primarily fitted to selected units within the class 350 Desiro fleet.
For trains where APC loading information had been provided the largest available representative data sample has been used, excluding known holiday periods, to ensure that the counts supplied, as far as possible, reflect typical weekday service demand during the survey window.
Where manual surveys have been used, primarily for regional trains serving Birmingham stations, these have been carried out on dates which, as far as possible, reflect the typical level of passenger demand for autumn 2023. No known service anomalies were present on the dates used. The nature of manual counting however means that results collected in this way are subject to the effect of natural day-to-day statistical fluctuations.
Since autumn 2022, West Midlands Trains had made a range of changes to its service offering, intended to provide a more reliable operation that made better use of its available train capacity. Most significant of these was the delivery of a heavily revised timetable in December 2022, featuring the first major recast of operations on the West Coast Main Line since late 2020.
A core feature of the December 2022 timetable was the introduction of half hourly direct services between Birmingham New Street to Northampton to London Euston, providing an uplift over the hourly through service that had operated for the previous 2 years. This change immediately yielded a significant improvement in the distribution of West Midlands Trains passenger loadings on the West Coast route.
Strengths and weaknesses of the data
The statistics on rail passenger demand and crowding are based on counts carried out by train operators of the numbers of passengers using their services, either using automatic counting equipment fitted to trains or manual counts carried out on board trains or at stations. While the statistics should be a reliable guide to the magnitude of passenger numbers at particular locations and at different times of day, a number of factors can affect these statistics.
Passenger numbers on individual train services fluctuate from day to day and may vary across the autumn period. This can have an impact on the aggregate statistics, depending on the sample of days each year on which passengers are counted. This particularly affects cases when counts are based on a small number of services or where services have only been counted a small number of times, as changes from year to year may reflect these fluctuations rather than a genuine trend. For the same reason, small differences in the crowding figures between routes or when comparing different years may not be reflective of typical trends.
Passenger counts can be subject to measurement errors. For example, with manual counts there is a risk of human error leading to incorrect counts, particularly on busy trains. Load-weighing equipment calculates the passenger load by assuming an average weight per passenger, which may not always be representative of the passengers on every train, and all automatic counting equipment can sometimes develop faults.
The statistics are designed to represent a typical weekday during school term time in the autumn and may not be representative of other times of year, or on particular days of the week. They will also not reflect crowding seen on days when there was disruption. The autumn period is used because it is the time of year when commuter demand is generally at its greatest, but this will not necessarily be the case for all operators and on all routes, and crowding may be higher at other times of year or on particular days of the week in some cases.
The basis on which standing allowances for different types of rolling stock are calculated can vary between train operators, usually because of the types of rolling stock in their fleets and the types of passenger services they provide. The method for calculating them has also varied over time. This will have an impact on the PiXC figures for each operator.
Because some services include a standing allowance in their standard class capacity while longer distance services only include the number of standard class seats, the nature of PiXC is different in these cases. On services with no standing allowance it represents passengers having to stand for more than 20 minutes, whereas on services with a standing allowance, it represents passengers standing in cramped conditions.
More information about the methodology behind these statistics and factors that affect them can be found in the notes and definitions document that accompanies this statistical series.
Tables accompanying this release
Ten tables have been published alongside this release, 3 showing passenger number statistics and 7 showing crowding statistics. The tables are listed below and can be found in the accompanying statistical data sets - capacity and overcrowding.
Passenger number statistics tables
Passenger number statistics tables
| RAI0201 | City centre peak and all day arrivals by rail on a typical autumn weekday, by city: annual from 2010 |
| RAI0202 | City centre arrivals and departures by rail on a typical autumn weekday afternoon, by city and time band: annual from 2011 |
| RAI0203 | Central London arrivals and departures by rail on a typical autumn weekday afternoon, by city and time band: annual from 2011 |
Crowding statistics tables
| RAI0209 | Passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) on a typical autumn weekday by city: annual from 2011 |
| RAI0210 | Passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) on a typical autumn weekday on London and South East train operators’ services: annual from 1990 |
| RAI0211 | Passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) on a typical autumn weekday by operator: London and South East train operators: annual from 2000 |
| RAI0212 | Peak rail capacity, standard class critical loads and crowding on a typical autumn weekday by city: annual from 2010 |
| RAI0213 | Peak crowding on a typical autumn weekday by city and train operator: annual from 2011 |
| RAI0214 | Peak crowding on a typical autumn weekday in London by terminal and train operator: annual from 2011 |
| RAI0215 | Passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) on a typical autumn weekday by city: annual from 2011 |
Acknowledgements
The rail statistics team at DfT would like to say thank you to colleagues in Train Operating Companies who have spent time collecting, processing, and checking data to be used in this statistical publication.
Background notes
Further details about all the statistics in this report can be found in the notes and definitions.
The United Kingdom Statistics Authority designated these statistics as accredited official statistics in 2013, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:
- meet identified user needs
- are well explained and readily accessible
- are produced according to sound methods
- are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest
Once statistics have been designated as accredited official statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed. The continued designation was confirmed in October 2017, accredited official statistics status of rail passenger numbers and crowding statistics.
Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release can be found in the pre-release access list.
Users and uses of these statistics
These statistics and the underlying passenger counts are used within government and across the rail industry for a wide variety of purposes. Some of the main uses include:
- informing government policy on rail, including decisions on infrastructure, station and rolling stock investment
- as part of the rail franchising process, informing the specification of new franchises
- models used in the assessment of franchise bids
- in the day to day running of train operating companies, including planning timetables and rolling stock deployment
- understanding and monitoring passenger demand and crowding
- validating models of passenger demand
Get in touch
We are always keen to hear how these statistics are used and would welcome your views on this publication. Comments and queries can be addressed to rail.stats@dft.gov.uk.
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Merseyrail were unable to operate a full rush hour service with their new fleet of Class 777 trains due to problems at 3 stations, Southport, Liverpool Central and Hunts Cross. It was discovered that 8-car peak hour trains overlapped the signalling system at these stations, which meant that points behind the trains could not be set properly to allow the new rolling stock to manoeuvre. Consequentially, only 4-car services have been able to operate. ↩ ↩2