DESPITE an announcement in February this year, that Government would go ahead with legislation to bring about the creation of Great British Railways (GBR), it has been made clear that there will not be a Railways Bill in the next session of parliament to provide the necessary legal powers.
Although there are leaked reports that passenger numbers have recovered to pre-Covid levels, for any operators it will not be until after this issue of Rail Express goes to press that official statistics are released by the rail regulator that will also show the level of demand and revenue being paid by passengers.
If previous statistics are anything to go by then the average fare paid will have continued to lag behind that recorded prior to travel restrictions being imposed in March 2020 following the Covid-19 outbreak. This relates to hybrid working that has cut the demand for season tickets, with staff attending a fixed workplace on fewer days in the week than previously. It is also apparent that business travel has reduced as a result
