New analysis of data from the Office of Rail and Road shows how the impact of COVID-19 on passenger numbers in the first year of pandemic varied between regions.

The South West recorded the most journeys (23.3%) in 2020-21 as a percentage of journeys made in 2019-20, while Scotland (15.6%) recorded the lowest. 

People in London made the largest total number of journeys of any region (214 million), while the North East had the fewest (3.2 million). 

Some 344 million passenger journeys were recorded right across the entire network, which equates to 22.9% of the 1,504 million journeys recorded in 2019-20 and is the lowest number since the time series began in 1995-96. 

Of this overall number, the 264 million journeys made within regions was equivalent to 25.9% of journeys made a year earlier, while the 79.6 million journeys made between regions was equivalent to 16.5%. 

Some 1.6 million journeys were made between England and Wales in the 12-month period  and 1.4 million between England and Scotland.