Christmas cheer for public transport!

London’s buoyant retail and hospitality sectors has spurred public transport recovery in the capital. Outside of London, bus groups reveal ‘very encouraging’ year-on-year passenger growth of 5-10%

 
Bus use is up by 8% in London

 
The festive period has brought encouraging signs of continued recovery in public transport passenger volumes.
Transport for London in particular is continuing to bounce back from the pandemic, buoyed by strong trading in the capital’s retail and hospitality sectors.

TfL has this week reported soaring ridership numbers at key Tube stations close to Christmas attractions. Meanwhile, entries and exits at Oxford Circus station were 27% higher on Black Friday (November 24) than on average for each of the previous four Fridays.

Known as the ‘Golden Quarter’, the run-up to Christmas is a vital period for the retail and hospitality sectors, with many businesses relying on it for a significant proportion of their annual profits. TfL’s figures reveal how Londoners and visitors are using public transport to access the capital’s vast array of retail opportunities and festive events.

The Tube stop for Battersea Power Station, on the Northern line extension, saw 52,814 entries and exits on November 4, the day of the Battersea Park fireworks – almost double the number seen on the previous Saturday.

Kew Gardens station saw a 53% increase in entries and exits during the first three days of Christmas at Kew, which opened on November 15, in comparison to the same three days the previous week.

TfL and Visit London have launched a new Tube map titled ‘A Christmas Too Big to Miss’, marking the locations of the best festive attractions across London this year. It gives guidance on accessibility, as well as advice on how far the attractions are from the stations.

A recent TfL report showed that bus demand between January and October 2023 was 8% higher than in the same period in 2022

A recent TfL report showed that bus demand between January and October 2023 was 8% higher than in the same period in 2022. Mayor Sadiq Khan has meanwhile hailed his Superloop bus network, launched in July, as a “game-changer”. Two more routes were added earlier this week providing another boost for those travelling from outer London.

Footfall has also risen sharply in the West End, with Shaftesbury Capital, owner of Seven Dials and Covent Garden, recently revealing footfall was up 12% year-on-year. The area, which suffered a drop in visitors in the wake of the pandemic, has said its footfall is now 16% above 2019 levels.

The capital’s nightlife is also recovering, and, despite some changes in work patterns, Friday and Saturday nights remain the most popular nights of the week in central London with people travelling in for evenings out. Ridership on the Night Tube and Night Overground services shows that around 60,000 journeys take place on a Friday night between 00:30 and 04:30, and close to 70,000 journeys on a Saturday night between 00:30 and 04:30.

 
Andy Lord, London’s transport commissioner, said: “With London’s cultural and social calendar having truly sprung back this year, it’s set to be a Christmas you can’t miss … Wherever you choose to go, you can rely on TfL services to help you get there and make the most of your trip, and on our up-to-date, easy-to-access information to help you enjoy all the festive fun in London.”

Outside of London, the picture is more mixed. But Britain’s three largest bus groups told Passenger Transport that bus use is up 5-10% across their operations this year.

Stagecoach, Britain’s biggest bus operator, has seen a further recovery in demand for its public transport services, with year-on-year growth in regional bus passenger journeys of 5.3%.

First Bus saw a UK-wide year-on-year increase of over 10% in patronage in the period between April and December.

We can say that bus demand … for us is 7% higher this year than 2022. We had predicted 6% because of the government’s £2 price cap, which is clearly helping the bus industry, but we’re pleased with that 7% figure. It’s very promising

A spokeswoman for Arriva commented: “We can say that bus demand … for us is 7% higher this year than 2022. We had predicted 6% because of the government’s £2 price cap, which is clearly helping the bus industry, but
we’re pleased with that 7% figure. It’s very promising.”

Bus passenger journeys on National Express West Midlands buses are also around 7% higher than 2022. National Express scheduled coaches are expecting to carry close to one million people across the festive period.Around 13% more passengers are already booked, compared to the same period of 2022.

 
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

DON’T MISS OUT – GET YOUR COPY! – click here to subscribe!

The post Christmas cheer for public transport! first appeared on Passenger Transport.

​