[question] How many passenger trains run every day?

[Cherry_Picker]

It's a question I used to know the answer to, something like 13,000 trains run a day (M-F start of service to end of service) but that number was quite a while ago. I'd guess that the number has increased but I can't find out what it is these days. I'm sure one of you lovely lot knows the answer. How many trains run in passenger service in the UK every day?

 

[Bald Rick]

It's about 24,000.

 

[ainsworth74]

Do we have any historical figures? I think it would be interesting to see how that number has changed over time.

 

[thenorthern]

Do we have any historical figures? I think it would be interesting to see how that number has changed over time.

Thats a good point as there was a greater variety of services and stations pre-Beeching although I think there are more services overall today than in any point in history.

 

[Western Lord]

Thats a good point as there was a greater variety of services and stations pre-Beeching although I think there are more services overall today than in any point in history.

Pre-Beeching the level of service on most main lines was a fraction of today. Even allowing for the closed branch lines (which mostly had only a few trains a day), today's intensive level of service far eclipses anything in the past.
We have one of the most intensively worked networks in the world, the poor old French can only dream of the level of service provided on British main and secondary lines.

 

[RailAleFan]

From my interpretation of the current ATOC timetable feed for the week Monday 23rd May - Sunday 29th May 2016:

Mon - 21933 (109 00:01 - 04:29)

Tue - 21985 (163 00:01 - 04:29)

..

Sat - 20127 (181 00:01 - 04:29)

Sun - 12202 (123 00:01 - 04:29)

(this is just a count of basic schedule records so not taking into account associations)

 

[Cherry_Picker]

Much appreciated, thanks.