London weekday rail travel is in the doldrums

The London Mayor called London rail companies to a problem-solving meeting last week hoping to boost commuter travel. Without this, demand for central London office space and retail faces a dire future.

The findings of the meeting were stark.

London’s main commuter railways – South Western, Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern (Cambridge and Peterborough lines) are now carrying 22 million fewer passengers a month than four years ago.

The largest rail operator, Govia Thameslink reported to the GLA that passenger demand on suburban services was at 75 per cent. South Western’s monthly passenger demand has fallen from just under 18 million to just over 11 million. Managing Director of SW, Claire Mann, described the situation as “static”.

Overground and DLR trains are faring much better but they are all facing weekday passenger numbers 20 per cent down on pre-pandemic times. The Underground is a bit more promising (still below the norm – 85 per cent of pre pandemic – but 13 million more than a year ago).

Working From Home has now become an established norm for many London workers and those who can are choosing to travel to work only on three days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) at the most.

The English government is having to find an extra £4 billion per year in extra subsidies to keep our railways afloat.

London has faced many employment challenges since the Second World War but all of them (the closure of city manufacturers and the move of London’s docklands to the Thames Estuary, for example) happened over half a century.

The shock of Working From Home has arrived in a whirlwind couple of years (hastened in part by lockdown).

Just keeping our trains on track over the next few years is going to be a challenge.