Rail usage 'reaching record levels'

The increasing use of railways in the UK is edging closer to record levels, new data has revealed.

Figures unveiled by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) for April to June show that railways showed year-on-year growth of 8.3 per cent.

This growth means that levels of passenger kilometres – calculated when journeys are multiplied by their average length – are likely to surpass the record of 47 billion passenger kilometres set in 1946.

Other findings in the report show that rail punctuality is improving nationwide. Between April and June, 90.8 per cent of trains ran on time, compared with 90.4 per cent in the same period last year.

The only exception to the upward trend was seen in long-distance train companies, whose punctuality levels dropped from 88.1 per cent last year, to 86.3 per cent this spring, largely due to flooding.

Last month Virgin announced that passenger levels on its services from the north-west to London had jumped by more than two thirds since 2004.