As someone who for various reasons has not been on a train since March, I am curious to know what passenger volumes are like at the moment compared to before the pandemic. Are passengers slowly coming back to your station to travel or does it look like passenger numbers will be down for a long time yet. Thank you
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Passenger use at your local station
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I’m a shift worker and have noticed that ordinarily, customer numbers are very similar to what I have previously experienced when travelling to and from late turns (I usually get an entire bay of 4 to myself).
On earlies, travelling home is again the same as before (bay of 4 to myself), and the early morning train (I travel on the first train of the day which leaves at 10 past 5), this was previously full and standing from a few stops along the line but is now at probably 75% seated capacity with customers only standing if they want to.
My partner says that the morning peak is absolutely dead.
On earlies, travelling home is again the same as before (bay of 4 to myself), and the early morning train (I travel on the first train of the day which leaves at 10 past 5), this was previously full and standing from a few stops along the line but is now at probably 75% seated capacity with customers only standing if they want to.
My partner says that the morning peak is absolutely dead.
Reliablebeam
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In a Thames Valley stop, picking up quite quickly now, for local traffic. Paddington can be quite dead later in the evening. Clear that a lot of the London commuters have not gone back, but more people than say three weeks ago. I am no longer The Train King - not always so easy to grab a 4 bay window to yourself for the last week or so. The shuttle between Didcot and Oxford is getting quite busy at times now, and is still only hourly.
Jamesrob637
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It's probably only as busy as it is at many stations due to reduced service. Were there a normal timetable, many trains would still be nearly empty.
Jamiescott1
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The week in March before lockdown was absolutely dead and have been travelling daily since, in the past 2 weeks its slowly picked up but what would of been a full train pre- lockdown now only has 1 person per double seat or table of 4
seaviewer
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I'm not sure that any local information is available, but nationwide data are available at
last week, National Rail passenger usage was 25% of normal.
last week, National Rail passenger usage was 25% of normal.
steamybrian
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I live in South Eastern- land at Tonbridge and have found off peak trains still lightly loaded- maybe a quarter of normal loadings.
A recent journey on London Underground from Paddington to Embankment via Bakerloo Line after 1700 hrs on Friday evening and there were never more than 10 passengers in the carriage I was travelling. Before the lockdown I would have been lucky to get a seat..
Yes, the Hallam line feels back to normal with the exception of the peak.
That's interesting. It feels like it should be more but I haven't been travelling much in the peaks, so the loss of those might have skewed things.
The simple answer is no; I completely agree with you, though there are other threads to discuss this.
I saw only four or five people join a train which, if not for coronarvirus, probably would have seen around ten to fifteen people board it during the Summer months. Whilst not strictly related to this thread, I noticed that the trains were also fairly busy, with plenty of people onboard.
It's probably worth saying that the passenger usage figures of Kingham aren't normally that high anyway, but during the Summer months you often see a lot of people going into Oxford or London and then coming back.
-Peter
It's probably worth saying that the passenger usage figures of Kingham aren't normally that high anyway, but during the Summer months you often see a lot of people going into Oxford or London and then coming back.
-Peter
I know it’s only August and official 2020 station usage figures won’t be published for a few months yet, but this year has been no normal year for the railway with Covid-19 causing a massive drop in passenger numbers. It seems likely that every station on the network will see an annual drop in footfall compared to last year’s figures, but I wonder if there will be some that will take a far more significant hit than others?
For example, with working from home becoming the new norm, fewer people are travelling from commuter towns in the South East to London terminals, so both stations in this category seem likely to take a big hit. On the other hand, WFH and furlough has given people more leisure time, so they are more likely to visit tourist destinations such as Cornwall, Snowdonia and the Lake District, boosting footfall of stations in these areas and making up for the loss of commuters on those lines. I expect though that towns which have had to do with a local lockdown like Leicester and Blackburn will be the worst hit due to the prolonged period of measures.
On a final note, I wonder how many, if any stations will actually see an increase on last year’s footfall? I reckon a rural branch line station which had low patronage last year could manage this, particularly if it’s in an area popular with staycationers.
For example, with working from home becoming the new norm, fewer people are travelling from commuter towns in the South East to London terminals, so both stations in this category seem likely to take a big hit. On the other hand, WFH and furlough has given people more leisure time, so they are more likely to visit tourist destinations such as Cornwall, Snowdonia and the Lake District, boosting footfall of stations in these areas and making up for the loss of commuters on those lines. I expect though that towns which have had to do with a local lockdown like Leicester and Blackburn will be the worst hit due to the prolonged period of measures.
On a final note, I wonder how many, if any stations will actually see an increase on last year’s footfall? I reckon a rural branch line station which had low patronage last year could manage this, particularly if it’s in an area popular with staycationers.
Jorge Da Silva
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2020-21 figures will not be published until December next year
Next figures will be published April 2021, which will be for (roughly) April 19-20. So will.only slightly be depressed by Covid at their tail end.
The real Covid figures will be the April 2022 stats.
Killingworth
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The 2019-20 figures will be of academic interest. COVID effects didn't hit hard until the second half of March so we should still see some individual station increases on 2018-19, but overall probably standing still at best.
I see commuting hereabouts struggling to achieve even 10% of March levels (at best 15 cars in the car park by 8.30 compared with 150-200 on normal days). Leisure could now be over 50%, and would be higher if Manchester weren't in lockdown and Airport travellers almost unseen.
I see commuting hereabouts struggling to achieve even 10% of March levels (at best 15 cars in the car park by 8.30 compared with 150-200 on normal days). Leisure could now be over 50%, and would be higher if Manchester weren't in lockdown and Airport travellers almost unseen.
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YorksLad12
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I'd imagine the major stations will see a greater drop in patronage - all of the NR ones, for example - as railheads. I can't remember off hand if the annual stats have a percentage comparison with the previous year but it's easy enough to calculate. If we're lucky the 2020-21 stats will come through a little quicker, but I suspect we'll be revisiting this thread in another 16 months 
TJM
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I suppose one of the bigger questions is why does it take so long to gather these statistics - or at least for them to become publicly available - for us to not find out the COVID impact until 2022?
Surely the data would be available month-by-month based on ticket sales, how else would revenue usually be allocated to the TOC through ORCATS/etc. to cover expenditure?
Surely the data would be available month-by-month based on ticket sales, how else would revenue usually be allocated to the TOC through ORCATS/etc. to cover expenditure?
I suspect Horden will!
YorksLad12
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Estimates of Passenger Usage (the data we get every December-ish) isn't the same as ticket sales, especially if you use things such as MetroCard/MCard in West Yorkshire. Or, if you buy a ticket to Manchester Stations, which one does it count towards? Or, if you buy a ticket but don't travel. There's an explanation in the Excel file you can download from ORR which goes into detail of the whys and hows.
But yes, I wish it would be a bit quicker. We only got the 2018-19 figures in January 2020, thanks to the election (and even then they snuck out without the usual media release & coverage).
Surely that can’t count as it opened this year!
Unfortunately most would exclude it, yeah. As for usage, it seemed comparable to Seaham which is probably what you'd expect. Off-peak traffic on the Durham Coast does seem to have picked up (with social distancing on some trains now impossible), and Hartlepool station was very busy.
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