Big return to the office? You're joking, say train firm bosses

Millions fewer weekday railway journeys as staff carry on WFH joking, say train firm bosses

- Ross Lydall

THERE were growing concerns today that the "big return" to the central London workplace has stalled.

Millions of rail journeys a month that were made in and out of the capital before the pandemic are no longer occurring on weekdays, despite the post-Covid economic recovery, according to the latest travel data.

London's three main commuter railways - South Western, Southeastern and GoVia Thameslink, which runs Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern carry about 22 million fewer passengers a month than four years ago.

All admit that their "metro" services between the capital's suburbs and central London have been the slowest to recover. Experts say office working provides a boost to the economy and can improve creativity and well-being, Angie Doll, chief executive at GoVia Thameslink Railway, said: "We do not see the level of people commuting five days a week that we saw pre-Covid. We see people commute on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - and that pattern is set now. People established working from home in a way they never thought was going to be possible. We are not seeing that balance change."

Latest figures from the Office of Rail and Road show that GoVia Thameslink the largest rail franchise has been carrying a total of about 20 million passengers a month, compared with about 30 million pre-pandemic. Caroline Pidgeon, a Liberal Democrat member of the London Assembly's transport committee, suggested rail firms should consider two types of fares - one for Tuesday to Thursday and the other for travel between Friday and Monday. She said: "Train operators should incentivise people back to the railways!"