Rail Industry Monitor 2006 Published
New rail analysis reinforces boom for Regional services
Britain’s regional railway services – the services which run to, from and between towns and cities outside the south east – are continuing to enjoy a major boom, according to new analysis in Rail Industry Monitor 2006 by transport consultants TAS, published this week.
Though these services continue to absorb around 75% of the subsidy paid to the train operators for around 24% of the passenger journeys, patronage has grown by over 16% in two years, with a further 6% expected in 2004/05. This takes total patronage growth to over 60% in the last 20 years on these routes.
Productivity and costs have improved on the networks since privatisation, too, the report suggests. Operators are running 12% more train miles with only 1.3% more staff, and the amount of passenger revenue earned by each employee has grown by over 50%. Operating costs per train kilometre have fallen by over 14% in real terms.
However, there is still more to be done, suggests the 590-page report’s editor Chris Cheek. “Revenue yields are still below 10p per passenger mile, and the average train load is still only 48 – compared with over 100 on local routes in the south east and 135 on InterCity routes,” he said.
This suggested that there was more capacity for growth in the off-peak – though he emphasised that many commuter routes into big cities such as Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham were already overcrowded. “Our analysis shows that the number of people using trains in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire has grown by over 80% in the last ten years, and by over 46% in the West Midlands.”
Rail in London and the South East continues to boom as well, though InterCity services continue to suffer from low-cost air competition. “More people are travelling for shorter distances on InterCity routes, which is good news, but does cause capacity problems. Overall, the analysis shows that the number of passenger kilometres on these routes is still around the same as it was in the late 1980s, at the time of the Lawson boom,” Cheek added. “Hopefully, further growth on the West Coast route now that Virgin has been able to introduce its new timetables will help to boost numbers even further.”
The report shows that train operator profits were slightly lower in 2004/05. Operating profits totalled £306m on turnover of £6,668m (last year: £305m on £6,400m), to give an operating margin of 4.6% (last year: 4.8%).This is the first reversal of an upward trend in margins that had lasted since the post-Hatfield financial crisis in 2000/01. InterCity operator profits were 49% down, but regional operators more than doubled their returns, whilst there was a small increase in margins from 5% to 5.2%
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
- TAS Publications & Events is the publishing arm of The TAS Partnership. Founded in 1989, TAS has since grown to become the UK’s leading specialist public transport consultancy. Its recent clients include the Department for Transport, the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government, as well as local authorities and transport operators throughout the country.
- Rail Industry Monitor 2006 is a 590 page report on the state of Britain’s Railways, divided into five volumes. The volumes are available separately or as a package, starting at £235. They cover:
- The Market for Rail Services
- Public Spending and Support
- Vehicles and Investment
- The Passenger Railway
- The Freight Railway.