modernrail
Member
- Joined
- 26 Jul 2015
- Messages
- 1,048
British passenger rail numbers reach 80% of pre-Covid levels
RIA has welcomed figures from the DfT showing that passenger levels reached 80% of pre-pandemic levels on March 18.
www.railjournal.com
I find the speed of this rebound to be astonishing. Bearing in mind about 1 in 15 of the population has Covid, that might well be the missing 20%.
Lots of things flow from this, such as,
1. What is the case for the DfT forcing operators to cut services?
2. Where is this usage in the day? How are the commuter flows looking. If they are down is something else up?
2. Could we actually be in for more than 100% usage and if so why - are very high fuel prices causing people to turn to the railways?
3. How even is this spread. I have a strong feeling the weak link in the new world is the super expensive morning and evening services. People can now swerve them by using video conferencing for early meetings or travelling off peak. Is it finally time to consign this lunacy to the bin and have more even pricing throughout the day.
I would personally rather they stick a fiver on every long distance fare and reduce the peak fares down near that level. A bit of a supplement, fine, but more like 20% than 200%.