ScotRail Sees Second Largest Increase in Passenger Journeys In Latest Financial Year Figures

The Office of Rail and Road ‘Passenger rail usage, January to March 2024’ report shows that there were 81.1 million passenger journeys on ScotRail during the 2023-2024 financial year, a 27% increase from the 2022-2023 financial year, Placing them second overall.

Looking at the rest of the table, Elizabeth Line came first (54%), and Hull Trains came third (24%). The report also shows that passenger rail journeys have seen a 230 million surge, resulting in a 16% rise when compared to the previous year.

Train Operator/Line	Passenger Journeys Apr 2023 to Mar 2024	Percentage change from Apr 2022 to Mar 2023
Elizabeth Line	220 million	54%
ScotRail	81.1 million	27%
Hull Trains	1.4 million	24%
Avanti West Coast	32.8 million	23%
TransPennine Express	23.4 million	22%
CrossCountry	32.8 million	18%
London Overground	181 million	15%
Caledonian Sleeper	0.3 million	15%
Greater Anglia	76.4 million	15%
TfW Rail	26.2 million	13%
East Midlands Railway	28.9 million	13%
Govia Thameslink Railway	279 million	11%
Merseyrail	28.3 million	11%
South Western Railway	153 million	11%
West Midlands Trains	61.8 million	10%
Grand Central	1.8 million	10%
Lumo	1.3 million	10%
Southeastern	128 million	9%
Chiltern	21.1 million	9%
Great Western Railway	82.6 million	7%
c2c	35.8 million	6%
Northern Trains	85.1 million	5%
London North Eastern Railway	24.2 million	3%
Heathrow Express	4.5 million	-4%

Motion blurred anonymous people walking inside large railway terminus platform

It was also revealed that passenger rail usage 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.

Financial Year	Passenger Journeys Recorded	Percentage Increase from 21-22 Financial Year
2021-2022	1.0 billion	N/A
2022-2023	1.4 billion	40%
2023-2024	1.6 billion	60%

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.”