Standard Digital Edition

‘London lag’ as rail commuters return costs city £43m a week

Ross Lydall City Hall Editor

RAIL commuters are returning to London at a slower rate than the rest of the country, it emerged today.

Passenger numbers are at 41 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, compared with 54 per cent outside the capital, according to the Rail Delivery Group.

It estimates this is depriving London’s economy of £2.3 billion in train passenger spending on food and drink, shopping and entertainment.

But there was better news on Tube and bus travel, with Transport for London saying the Underground was running at 80 per cent of normal at times last weekend.

Yesterday the Tube was at 73.3 per cent of normal, up 0.3 points on the previous Sunday, though Saturday’s numbers were down a fraction on a week earlier.

Between Wednesday and Friday last week, rates were around 60 per cent of pre-pandemic.

On the buses, weekday passenger numbers at the end of last week were 73 per cent of normal, increasing to 79 per cent at the weekend.

The Rail Delivery Group said the so-called “London lag” in the return of train commuters would make it harder for shops and restaurants to reopen.

Train commuters spend on average £12 on food and drink, £8 on shopping and £6 on entertainment and culture for each journey.

Pre-pandemic, this totalled an estimated £16.7 billion a year in London, but currently stands at £6.8 billion, according to research by WPI Economics for the Rail Delivery Group. If commuting levels into London matched other regions, the capital’s hospitality sector would stand to gain an estimated £43.5 million every week, adding up to £2.3 billion over a year, it said.

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