Journeys on Elizabeth Line skyrocket by 54% as passenger usage edges closer to pre-pandemic levels
A new study from Office of Rail and Road, analysed by West Somerset Railway has revealed that passenger rail journeys have surged by 54% on the Elizabeth Line in the latest financial year statistics compared to the previous year.
The Office of Rail and Road ‘Passenger rail usage, January to March 2024’ report shows that there were 220 million passenger journeys on the Elizabeth Line in the 2023-2024 financial year, a 54% increase from the 2022-2023 financial year.
This news comes as the government recently announced that it was granting funding for additional trains to be built by Altsom so that TfL can increase capacity on the network which is having strong passenger demand.
ScotRail couldn’t come close to Elizabeth Line placing them second, with a 27% increase. Hull Trains was third (24%). The data shows that overall passenger journeys have skyrocketed by 230 million resulting in a 16% compared to the previous year.
Elsewhere in London, London Overground saw a 15% rise. Heathrow Express was the only train operator that saw a decrease (-4%).
The report also revealed that passenger rail figures are edging closer to pre pandemic levels. Passenger journeys were recorded at 1.7 billion in the 2019-2020 financial year. In the latest financial year (2023-2024) those numbers were recorded at 1.6 billion.
Looking into this further, West Somerset Railway uncovered that there has been a 60% increase in recorded passenger journeys from 2021-2022 to 2023-2024.
Speaking on the newly released data, Samantha White from West Somerset Railway said: "It is amazing to see that passenger rail numbers are continuing to edge closer towards pre pandemic figures. The fact that there has been a huge 60% increase from 2021-2022 to this latest financial year is fantastic to see.
“On top of that, an increase of 230 million passenger journeys this financial year is really encouraging. This shows that after a difficult start to the decade, the rail industry continues to get back on its feet to the same level of strength it was before the pandemic.”