Chapter 7 - Rail

Introduction

This chapter provides information on rail services, such as the numbers of passenger journeys of various types, passenger receipts, punctuality and passenger satisfaction, the amount of freight lifted by origin, destination and commodity, lines open for traffic, number of stations, railway accidents, and some statistics about the Glasgow Subway.

For simplicity, the Scottish passenger rail operator is referred to throughout as ScotRail. From 31 March 1997 to 16 October 2004, it was operated by National Express, under the name ScotRail; between 17 October 2004 and 31 March 2015, it was operated by First Group, under the name First ScotRail. From 1 April 2015 Abellio and Serco began operating ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper services respectively. ScotRail is now in public ownership and the Scottish Government took control on 1 April 2022. Scottish Rail Holdings (SRH) were appointed to run the ScotRail service initially in April 22. Caledonian Sleeper was added to the SRH portfolio in March 23..

ScotRail introduced a new methodology which better estimates Strathclyde Zonecard journeys from 2009/10. To allow meaningful year on year comparisons to be made passenger figures from 2003/04 onwards have been revised. Note that Office of Rail and Road figures are compiled on a different basis and do not adjust for this.

Key Points

• There were 64 million passenger journeys on ScotRail services in 2022-23, an increase of 36% from 2021-22
• As of the end of 2021/22 Scotland had 2,730 kms of rail network and 360 stations.

Main Points

Journeys and Trends

Although passenger journeys on ScotRail services were significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic they have been recovering and have now increased by 36% to 64 million in the 2022-23 financial year. This is still 34% less than 2019 (pre-panemic) (Table 7.1).

There were 49 million rail passenger journeys originating in Scotland in the 2021-22 financial year. Recovering from the Covid pandemic this was 228% more than the previous year. Following a fall in the early 1990's, passenger numbers increased in every year after 1994-95, to 64.9 million in 1999-2000. However, they fell by 0.1 million in 2000-01 due to the effects on rail services of the speed restrictions, imposed following the accident at Hatfield in October 2000 (e.g. the Edinburgh/Glasgow daytime frequency was halved for about two months, and some sleeper services did not run for about five months). There were falls of 0.2 million in 2001-02 and 0.6 million in 2002-03 due to the effects on services of the ScotRail drivers' pay dispute, including some one day strikes and a special timetable (involving a reduction of about a quarter in weekday services) from January to May 2002. Subsequently, patronage recovered, with increases from 2004-05 onwards. (Table H1) (Table 7.2)

ORR data also show 3.7 million cross-border passenger journeys originating outwith Scotland in 2021-22, 3.0 million more than in 2020-21. Cross-border passenger journeys originating outwith Scotland have been increasing since 1994-95 (2.1 million). However, they fell slightly in 2000-01 and 2002-03 due to the reasons referred to above. (Table 7.2)

Passenger revenue from journeys originating in Scotland was £345 million in 2021-22 of which cross-border journeys originating in Scotland accounted for £144 million. A similar amount (£144 million) of passenger revenue was generated from passenger journeys originating outwith Scotland and ending in Scotland. (Table 7.2)

Journey Stages and Distances

Tables 7.4 to 7.8 show passenger journeys as recorded by ORR. Of the 53 million passenger journeys to/from/within Scotland and England in 2021-22, 86% were solely within Scotland. London, the North West and North East of England were the main origins/destinations of cross-border passenger journeys with around 2 million journeys each (Table 7.4).

In 2021-22, there were 45.1 million passenger journeys, wholly within Scotland. Forty three per cent of start and end points were in Glasgow and 11% were in Edinburgh. There were 7.4 million cross border journeys starting or finishing in Scotland. Of these, 58% started or finished in Edinburgh and 23 per cent started or finished in Glasgow. (Table 7.6a and 7.6c)

Table 7.6c shows travel between Local Authorities in 2021-22. Of the journeys wholly within Scotland, 18.2 million (40%) start and finish in Glasgow. 1.6 million are made between Glasgow and North and South Lanarkshire. (Table 7.6c)

Stations

In 2022-23, Glasgow Central was the busiest national rail station in Scotland, with 21 million passenger journeys. Edinburgh Waverley was used by 18 million passengers, Glasgow Queen Street by 12 million, Paisley Gilmour Street by 3 million, Haymarket by 2.3 million, Partick by 2.1 million, Aberdeen by 2.0 million and Stirling was 1.9 million. Including those already listed, there were 51 stations for which half a million or more passenger journeys each were recorded in the national ticketing system. (Table 7.7)

Of the stations in Scotland which have opened (or re-opened) since 1970, Exhibition Centre (1,157,900), Argyle Street (809,900), Livingston North (808,300), Bathgate (769,500), Bridgeton (500,300), Edinburgh Park (395,600), Uphall (358,100), Alloa (355,300) and Musselburgh (350,300) had the largest passenger volumes in 2022-23. (Table 7.8)

Punctuality and Service

In 2022-23, 89.0% of ScotRail services, 81.7% of London North Eastern Railway, 80.8% of Cross Country, 69.2% of Avanti West Coast and 86.8% of Caledonian Sleeper trains arrived on time. For GB long-distance operators and GB regional operators it was 79.7% and 84.5% respectively. (Table 7.9)

In 2022-23, 94.4% of ScotRail trains arrived within 10 minutes of the scheduled arrival time, 1.6% arrived 20 or more minutes late, and 2.4% were cancelled. (Table 7.10)

Transport focus are going to be using a 'full new’ GB rail survey planned to start in April 2024. In the meantime the results shown for 2022 come from a 'Your Rail Journey’ (field trials) survey done in March 2022 . However results should be treated with considerable caution. The data have not been weighted and the sample sizes are 200 or more. In 2022, 84% of ScotRail passengers were either satisfied or said good when asked their opinion of their overall journey. The table shows ScotRail passengers’ ratings of 7 aspects of service: in 2022, there were 6 for which at least 72% of those surveyed were satisfied, or said good and 4 above 80%. (Table 7.11)

The Scottish Household Survey also collects data from Scottish households on satisfaction with rail services. In 2021, around 78-97% were satisfied with train services offered, their timeliness, cleanliness, safe/secure day/evening and ability to find out about tickets and routes. There were noticeable differences in those who felt safe on the train during the day and in the evening (day: 97%, evening: 78%). ‘Fares are good value’ had the lowest agreement rate for trains with 54% of respondents doing so. The question will be asked in alternate years from 2019. (Table 7.20)

Rail Freight

In 2022-23, 4 million tonnes of freight was lifted in Scotland by rail, 5% less than the previous year. (Table 7.12)

Railway Network

The total route length of the railway network in Scotland is 2,730 kilometres, of which 890 kilometres is electrified. These figures do not represent the total length of railway track: a kilometre of single-track and a kilometre of double-track both count as one kilometre of route length. (Table 7.14)

The number of passenger stations has increased from 340 in 2003-04 to 360 in 2021-22. (Table 7.15)

The local authorities which had the largest numbers of stations located in their areas in 2021-22 were Glasgow (61) and Highland (59). Since the completion of the Borders Railway Project in 2015 there are now 4 stations in the Midlothian and 3 in the Scottish Borders council areas, see here for more information Borders Railway Line | Edinburgh | Tweedbank | ScotRail  (Table 7.16)

Subway

On the Glasgow Subway, recovering from the Covid 19 pandemic the number of passenger journeys increased by 47 per cent between 2021-22 and 2022-23. Passenger receipts (excluding other revenue) were £18.8 million in 2022-23, 47% more in cash terms, but 31% more in real terms, than in the previous year. (Table 7.17)

Accidents

The number of railway accidents fell from 44 to 29 in 2022. Injuries from accidents on trains increased from 118 to 142 between 2021 and 2022. Injuries from accidents in train stations increased from 371 in 2021 to 471 in 2022. The total number of deaths fell from 24 to 20 between 2021 and 2022. The overall number of injuries relating to railways rose from 678 in 2021 to 782 in 2022. (Table 7.18)

One death was attributed to a level crossing user, one to a passenger and 18 to suicides in 2022. (Table 7.19)

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Notes

Note 1

ScotRail introduced a new methodology which better estimates Strathclyde Zonecard journeys from 2009/10. Figures from 2003/04 onwards present the impact of this on previously reported data to provide a more meaningful year - on - year comparison. Note that this has no impact on actual journeys undertaken. Passenger kms have also been adjusted to reflect this.

Note 2

Figures affected by industrial action.

Note 3

Scheduled train kilometres are calculated by the Office of Rail and Road using the published winter and summer timetables. They do not take account of subsequent changes (e.g. cancellations and emergency timetables etc). From 2013-14 figures are for actual train kilometres.

Note 4

Abellio took over the ScotRail franchise from First on 01/04/2015. Since April 2015 Caledonian Sleeper details have now been excluded from the figures.

Note 5

There is a series break between 2007-08 and 2008-09 due to a change in the methodology. From 2008-09 estimates of PTE travel (zone cards) are included.

Note 6

Figures are lower than those for First ScotRail passenger journeys as changes of train are not taken into account in this series.

Note 7

Figures affected by industrial action.

Note 8

Adjusted approximately for general inflation using the Retail Prices index for the relevant calendar year (e.g. 2001 RPI used for 2001-02).

Note 9

Total passenger figures have not been adjusted to reflect ScotRail's revised methdology and therefore are not comparable with ScotRail passenger figures.

Note 10

Through journeys made using tickets whose sales were recorded directly by the rail industry's central ticketing system.

Note 11

Total passenger figures have not been adjusted to reflect ScotRail's revised methdology and are therefore not comparable with ScotRail passenger figures.

Note 12

Based on ticket sales from central ticketing system (therefore excludes journeys made using zonecards)

Note 13

Journeys for which the destination is one of the stations in the Council area (e.g. Edinburgh includes Brunstane, Curriehill, Dalmeny, etc)

Note 14

Based on ticket sales from central ticketing system (therefore excludes journeys made using zonecards)

Note 15

In this table a journey between two local authorities is only counted once.

Note 16

The table does not show the local authority areas which do not contain any stations

Note 17

Total passenger figures have not been adjusted to reflect ScotRail's revised methdology and are therefore not comparable with ScotRail passenger figures.

Note 18

Since 2006-07 there have been improvements in mapping tickets sold with an unknown origin or destination. These were previously mapped to Scotland other, but due to improved methodology, these have now been mapped to other districts or unitary authorities. One impact of this is journeys have been more accurately been mapped to Glasgow city since 2006-07 so comparisons with earlier years should not be made. For full methodology notes, please view the ORR documentation, which can be found here: http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/1940/regional-usage-profiles-odm-august-2013.pdf

Note 19

Note that this table shows start and end points of journeys so a journey starting in Aberdeen City and ending in Aberdeenshire would count once against each local authority. A journey starting and ending in Angus would count twice against the local authority. Therefore dividing the figures in the table by two gives the number of journeys either starting or ending in a Local Authority and will match totals published elsewhere in this chapter.

Note 20

Figures estimate the total number of people arriving or departing from the main stations in Scotland.

Note 21

Figures have not been adjusted to reflect ScotRail's revised methdology and are therefore not comparable with ScotRail passenger figures.

Note 22

Stations associated with a group station can show large year-to-year variations in usage figures, which reflect changes in ticket encoding rather than actual difference in passengers' journeys. For such tickets, journeys are allocated to the main station of those in the group.

Note 23

For example, a return journey from Kirkcaldy to Edinburgh would be counted twice against Kirkcaldy (since the passenger used Kirkcaldy station twice - once when departing on the outward journey and once when arriving on completion of the return journey), and twice against Edinburgh.

Note 24

Figures have not been adjusted to reflect ScotRail's revised methdology and are therefore not comparable with ScotRail passenger figures.

Note 25

The station closed on 9 December 2018.

Note 26

This is the current name - the station had a different name when it was opened (or re-opened).

Note 27

The station closed on 9 May 2010 and then re-opened on 6 March 2011.

Note 28

Prestwick airport includes rail link tickets from 2007-08.

Note 29

For long-distance operators, the figures are the percentages of trains which arrive at the final destination within ten minutes of the timetabled time (i.e. are no more than 9 minutes and 59 seconds late)

Note 30

For regional operators, the figures are the percentages of trains which arrive at the final destination within five minutes of the timetabled time (i.e. are no more than 4 minutes and 59 seconds late)

Note 31

National Express East Coast has taken over the franchise previously operated by GNER.

Note 32

CrossCountry is now operating most of the Virgin CrossCountry franchise routes and some routes from the Central Trains franchise.

Note 33

National Express East Coast services were transferrred to East Coast on 13 November 2009

Note 34

Figures subject to revision on annual basis.

Note 35

From 1 March 2015 Virgin trains took over the East Coast operation.

Note 36

Virgins Trains has been renamed Virgin West Coast.

Note 37

Having been part of the ScotRail franchise until 2014-15, Caledonian Sleeper began operating as a separate franchise in 2015-16. Abellio took over the ScotRail franchise from First at the start of 2015-16. ScotRail was taken over by the operator of last resort (Transport Scotland) on 1 April 2022.

Note 38

London North Eastern Railway took over the East Coast Franchise on 24 June 2018

Note 39

Avanti West Coast took over the West Coast Franchise on 8 December 2019

Note 40

For example, Total within 5 minutes gives the percentage which were no more than 4 minutes and 59 seconds late

Note 41

Includes part-cancelled trains (those which failed to reach their final destination but ran at least half their planned mileage)

Note 42

Includes trains which ran less than half their planned mileage

Note 43

As in the planned timetable for the day. This may differ from the published timetable due to (e.g.) engineering works, floods, etc.

Note 44

The difference from 100 includes both those who were dissatisfied or said poor and (e.g.) those who were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

Note 45

Excluding passengers whose journey started on a ScotRail service, who are counted as ScotRail passengers

Note 46

From Spring 2017 this factor is no longer in the survey. Note: There is a new factor 'Step or gap between the train and the platform' - in 2019 for ScotRail satisfaction was 66% (66% also for the ‘Others whose journey started in Scotland). But results not at all comparable with the original factor.

Note 47

Factor now called 'Level of crowding' (from spring 2017).

Note 48

Factor now called 'Cleanliness of the Inside of the Train' (from 2017).

Note 49

Factor now called 'Comfort of the seats' (from 2017).

Note 50

Intermodal is goods that can be moved in containers using more than one method of transport. The maritime intermodal traffic referred to is the deep sea traffic moved by train by Freightliner between Coatbridge and major English ports (Felixstowe, Southampton and London Gateway). It is then transferred to ship for import/export. To give you a flavour, the goods moved include whisky (and other major branded spirits), seafood, luxury textiles, oats and seed potatoes. Fairly recent figures show that around 20%-25% of Scotland’s exports move through Coatbridge (although this figure would need to be confirmed for up to date accuracy).

Note 51

In determining network capability, a new approach has been taken, based on using the infrastructure network model (INM), using the summation of ELR segments within electrified routes. It is believed that this is the most accurate data source to use and will provide better consistency and level of detail to network capability reporting in the coming years. There may however be discrepancies compared with previous reports due to a combination of historically over-reporting network capability (by inclusion of depots and sidings), and as a result of using a new model for reporting, which although considered to be a more accurate account of network capability, is still known to include minor inaccuracies. The INM database will be subject to ongoing review and refinement throughout CP6 to address these issues and improve on accuracy of reporting in future years.

Note 52

The figures for freight stations include main yards, sidings/depots, private terminals and sidings: ballast.

Note 53

The figure for passenger stations for e.g. 2005-06 represents the number which were part of the national rail network at the end of the 2005-06 financial year. All are owned by Network Rail with the exception of Prestwick Airport.

Note 54

The number of stations open at the end of the financial year 2005-06. All owned by Network Rail except Prestick Airport (South Ayrshire).

Note 55

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport took over the roles and functions of the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority and Executive from 1 April 2006.

Note 56

Passenger carriages including power cars

Note 57

These figures are headline revenue figures and include such as items as rental and advertising income. Figures for 2020/21 are greatly reduced due to the Covid pandemic.

Note 58

Adjusted approximately for general inflation using the Retail Prices Index for the relevant year (e.g. 2001 RPI used for 2001-02).

Note 59

These figures are passenger ticket receipts as described at paragraphs 7.9 and 7.10 in the notes and definitions for rail services. Figures for 2020/21 are greatly reduced due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Note 60

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has discovered an error in the way loaded train kilometres were calculated. The figures have been revised for previous years. Earlier editions of this publication have not been revised.

Note 61

Figures for 2016-17 not available at time of publication due to a recalculation requirement.

Note 62

Subway services were suspended between 2-Jul-16 and 9-Aug-16 (inclusive) for planned essential engineering works. No Subway services operated during this period.

Note 63

Figures from 2012-13 onwards refer only to frontline operational staff.

Note 64

Figures for this table were previously obtained from ORR. We have now changed the source to the RSSB to improve consistency with other official statistics. The figures in this table will therefore not be comparable with the tables published in editions of STS prior to number 34.

Note 65

Minor revisions have been made to figures in previous years.

Note 66

Potentially high risk train accidents- reportable under RIDDOR (ASPR, Chapter 7, Page 102).

Note 67

Train collisions with other trains only.

Note 68

Train derailments (ASPR, Chapter 7, Page 108).

Note 69

Riddor reportable Train accidents not classified as PHRTA (ASPR, Chapter 7, Page 114).

Note 70

This includes all accidental fatalities.

Note 71

This includes all major and minor injuries (excludes Shock/trauma).

Note 72

Injuries incurred on railway infrastructure outside of trains/ stations e.g. running line, YDS sites.

Note 73

Work on the new system has highlighted some issues with old SMIS. One example is animals struck by trains, in which previous reporting included events such as deer strikes that were not specifically required by RIDDOR when there was no damage to the train. This historical data has been corrected to include only those events that were RIDDOR reportable.

Note 74

One buffer stop collision took place in 2018 and was not classed as a PHRTA as no immediate permanent or temporary repair to the train was needed, and no damage was sustained by the cab window glass.

Note 75

Those who had not used a train service in the past month are not asked these questions about train services.

Note 76

This question will be asked in alternate years from 2019.

Note 77

An adjusted methodology was used to estimate passenger journeys and passenger kilometres in 2020-21. This was due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For more information, please see the 2020-21 Q4 passenger rail usage statistical release (https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1946/passenger-rail-usage-2020-21-q4.pdf)

Note 78

A total of 4.9 million cross-border journeys were made in each direction in 2019-20. This represents a decrease of 1.1% on 2018-19. Due to the way refunds have been included in the source data for certain ticket types, it was not possible to estimate individually the number of cross-border journeys for the three ticket types. The 1.1% decrease was therefore applied across the ticket types.

Note 79

The number of cross-border journeys presented for Highland in 2019-20 is an underestimate due to the way refunds have been included in the source data for certain ticket types. This means that the true percentage decrease in journeys for 2019-20 compared with the previous year will be smaller than the figures presented.

Note 80

An Interim Rail Passenger Survey was carried out in March 2021. However, compared to the National Rail Passenger survey it used a completely different methodology (and to a significantly reduced sample size and with less factors than the NRPS). Comparison with with figures for previous years should therefore be made with caution.

Note 81

For the Interim Rail Passenger Survey the question was about sufficient room for all passengers to sit/stand.

Note 82

For the Interim Rail Passenger Survey the question was about cleanliness inside the train

Note 83

There have been some very small revisions to the train km figures from 2013/14 onwards

Note 84

Passenger focus are going to be using a 'full new’ GB rail survey planned to start in April 2024. In the meantime the results shown for 2022 come from a 'Your Rail Journey’ (field trials) survey done in March 2022 . However results should be treated with considerable caution. The data have not been weighted and the sample sizes are 200 or more.

Note 85

Slight differences compared to previous figures are due to a change in the way Running Line is defined and data quality updates. For sidings, the reduction can be explained due to an exercise by Maintenance to identify NR Maintenance Boundary and leased / private depots.