British National
Rail Ridership from 1919
The Office of the Rail Regulator reports indicated that intercity rail ridership reached 49.0 billion passenger kilometers in 2007/2008. This is the highest ridership level ever report since passenger mile data has been available. Passenger journesy remain slightly below the 1946 level, at 1.232 billion, but nearly equal the level achieved in the pre-Great Depression year of 1928..
Year Passenger Trips (Millions) Compared to 1995/1996 (Last Year Before Privatization) Passenger Kilometers (Billions) Compared to 1995/1996 (Last Year Before Privatization) Average Trip Length
1919 2,064 171% --- --- ---
1923 1,772 133% --- --- ---
1928 1,250 64% --- --- ---
1933 1,159 52% --- --- ---
1938 1,237 63% 30.6 2% 24.7
1946 1,266 66% 47.0 57% 37.1
1947 1,140 50% 37.0 23% 32.5
1948 1,024 35% 34.2 14% 33.4
1949 1,021 34% 34.0 13% 33.3
1950 1,010 33% 32.5 8% 32.2
1951 1,030 35% 33.5 12% 32.5
1952 1,017 34% 32.9 10% 32.4
1953 1,015 33% 33.1 10% 32.6
1954 1,020 34% 33.3 11% 32.6
1955 994 31% 32.7 9% 32.9
1956 1,029 35% 34.0 13% 33.0
1957 1,101 45% 36.4 21% 33.1
1958 1,090 43% 35.6 19% 32.7
1959 1,069 41% 35.8 19% 33.5
1960 1,037 36% 34.7 16% 33.5
1961 1,025 35% 33.9 13% 33.1
1962 965 27% 31.7 6% 32.8
1963 938 23% 30.9 3% 32.9
1964 928 22% 32.0 7% 34.5
1965 865 14% 30.1 0% 34.8
1966 835 10% 29.7 -1% 35.6
1967 838 10% 29.1 -3% 34.7
1968 831 9% 28.7 -4% 34.5
1969 805 6% 29.6 -1% 36.8
1970 824 8% 30.4 1% 36.9
1971 816 7% 30.1 0% 36.9
1972 754 -1% 29.1 -3% 38.6
1973 728 -4% 29.8 -1% 40.9
1974 733 -4% 30.9 3% 42.2
1975 730 -4% 30.3 1% 41.5
1976 702 -8% 28.6 -5% 40.7
1977 702 -8% 29.3 -2% 41.7
1978 724 -5% 30.8 3% 42.5
1979 748 -2% 32.0 7% 42.8
1980 760 0% 31.7 6% 41.7
1981 719 -6% 30.7 2% 42.7
1982 630 -17% 27.2 -9% 43.2
1983 695 -9% 29.5 -2% 42.4
1984/1985 701 -8% 29.7 -1% 42.4
1985/1986 686 -10% 30.4 1% 44.3
1986/1987 738 -3% 30.8 3% 41.7
1987/1988 798 5% 32.4 8% 40.6
1988/1989 822 8% 34.3 14% 41.7
1989/1990 812 7% 33.3 11% 41.0
1990/1991 809 6% 33.2 11% 41.0
1991/1992 792 4% 32.5 8% 41.0
1992/1993 770 1% 31.7 6% 41.2
1993/1994 740 -3% 30.4 1% 41.1
1994/1995 735 -3% 28.7 -4% 39.0
1995/1996 761 0% 30.0 0% 39.4
1996/1997 801 5% 32.1 7% 40.1
1997/1998 846 11% 34.7 16% 41.0
1998/1999 892 17% 36.3 21% 40.7
1999/2000 931 22% 38.5 28% 41.4
2000/2001 957 26% 38.2 27% 39.9
2001/2002 960 26% 39.1 30% 40.7
2002/2003 976 28% 39.7 32% 40.7
2003/2004 1,014 33% 40.9 36% 40.3
2004/2005 1,045 43% 41.8 41% 40.0
2005/2006 1,082 42% 43.2 44% 39.9
2006/2007 1,151 51% 46.2 54% 40.1
2007/2008 1,232 62% 49.0 63% 39.8
Data from Department of Environment, Transport and Regions,  Strategic Rail Authority and the Office of Rail Regulation