National Rail use halved in December as the “work from home” message and Christmas break led to fewer people on the trains, according to the latest statistics.

Data from the Department for Transport suggest National Rail travel was at 66% of pre-Covid levels on 1 December last year. The number held steady until the Government guidance in England to work from home if possible came into effect on 13 December.

Rail use then fell steadily. There was a sharp rise just before Christmas with a peak of 75% on 23 December as people travelled for the festive break. But by the end of the month the numbers were back down to the low-thirties.

Before everyone gets too gloomy, we should remember National Rail use was at 12% of pre-Covid levels at the end of 2020 so there have been some improvements during the last year.

But there’s been no sustained recovery and the rail industry is still struggling to bounce back from the pandemic.

In my post in November, I wrote about the prospect of more frequent timetable changes in response to circumstances. That has come about with many rail operators altering services as workers are off sick with Covid. Reduced timetables are being introduced across the network.

So it’s a far from Happy New Year for the rail industry.