Railways: Passengers
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of the total number of passenger rail journeys in Great Britain in 2025–26; what figure for passenger journeys underpins its estimate of subsidy per passenger journey for that year; and what her Department's estimates for underpinning passenger numbers are in the next five years.
Answered by Keir Mather
Data relating to the total number of passenger rail journeys in Great Britain for 2025–26 is not yet available and is scheduled for publication in June. Historic data on journeys is published here: Passenger rail usage | ORR Data Portal.
Using the most recent ORR data available (2024-25), the subsidy per passenger journey is £8.21. This captures all journeys made with the 14 DfT operators. The subsidy figure includes Department for Transport’s support for the 14 DfT operators and Network Rail.
Finally, with respect to departmental estimates of underpinning passenger numbers over the next five years, the Department does not routinely publish forecasts of passenger numbers.
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