Introduction to National rail trends

The tables and charts included in this publication enable readers to compare quarterly data year on year.

The summary paragraphs below describe where in the publication you will find what you are looking for.

For more information you should open the documents listed on the National rail trends page where you will find further help. All the titles below are marked by bookmarks in the NRT documents to ease navigation.

Rail usage

This chapter includes tables and charts on the distance travelled by passengers, and the number of journeys they made. It details the revenue raised from passengers including all ticket revenue and miscellaneous charges associated with passenger travel on national railways, for example station car parking charges. It also has charts and tables that give comparisons for timetabled distances.

Rail performance

The PPM combines figures for punctuality and reliability into a single performance measure. The tables in this section show the performance of individual trains against their 7-day planned timetable. Information is available by region and by train operator. There are tables on complaints and National Rail Enquiries. In addition, until 2006-07, each yearbook had tables showing passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC). From 2007-08 a new measure will be used to determine capacity, however the new measure is still to be decided. 

Freight

This section contains data for freight moved, which takes into account the net weight of the goods and the distance carried. Other tables compare Freight lifted, which refers to the mass of goods carried on the network. This excludes the weight of locomotives and wagons and takes no account of the distance travelled. In addition, the yearbook has a Freight market indicators section with tables comparing the distance road vehicles would have to be driven to carry an equivalent amount of freight.

Other sources

Carried out twice yearly by Passenger Focus, the National Passenger Survey (NPS) provides a network-wide picture of customers' satisfaction with rail travel. Passengers’ overall satisfaction and satisfaction with 20 aspects of service can therefore be compared over time.

This section now also contains links to other data sources within the rail industry.

Miscellaneous tables

All rail vehicles leased by TOCs and used to fulfil a franchise agreement with DfT, are included in the calculations of average age. This section also contains tables on investment in the rail industry. In addition to this, the yearbook has tables on Government financial support and on infrastructure on the railways.

Fares - Rail fares index

The index gives an indication of the current cost of tickets compared with those bought the previous year for the same journey. The index covers the cost of travel only in England, Scotland and Wales. Rail tickets that include additional services such as bus tickets, entrance fees etc., are excluded. An exception to this is the London Travelcard.

Regional usage profiles (yearbook only)

This section provides an insight into passenger flows in each of the different Regions within Great Britain. It also aims to highlight the variation in travel patterns across the country and how these have developed since privatisation.

Train operating companies (yearbook only)

This section brings together information on each operator. Each TOC has a double-page spread in which information on NPS, PPM, and complaints can be found, as well as summary statistics for that operator.

Rail safety

Formerly published as the Railway safety statistical report (RSSR) the majority of tables are now included in NRT and cover:

  • Incidents involving passengers, staff and members of the public;
  • Level crossings;
  • Trespassers and vandalism;
  • Rolling stock, infrastructure failures and train incidents; and
  • Signals passed at danger (SPADs).

Chapter 10 in the printed copy of National rail trends does not include all of the tables that were previously published within the RSSR but all tables can be downloaded as excel files from this site.

Environmental indicators

This indicator gives traction energy consumption and related CO2 emissions in respect of franchised and non franchised passenger TOCs, freight operators and Eurostar.

Last updated: 19 October 2009