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CHAPTER 8 RAIL SERVICES

1. Introduction

1.1 This chapter provides information on rail services, such as the numbers of passenger journeys of various types, passenger receipts, punctuality and passenger satisfaction, the amount of freight lifted by origin, destination and commodity, lines open for traffic, number of stations, railway accidents, and some statistics about the Glasgow Subway.

1.2 The main changes in this edition are the inclusion of two new tables giving the numbers of passenger journeys using national rail tickets:

• wholly within Scotland, by local authority areas of origin and destination ( Table 8.6);

• to or from stations in Scotland which have opened (or re-opened) since 1970 ( Table 8.8).

These have led to the re-numbering of the subsequent tables. In addition:

• the table which, in the previous edition, showed the ten busiest stations in Scotland has been expanded, and now shows the hundred busiest stations ( Table 8.7 in this edition).

1.3 For simplicity, the Scottish passenger rail franchise is referred to throughout as "ScotRail". From 31 March 1997 to 16 October 2004, it was operated by National Express, under the name "ScotRail"; from 17 October 2004, it has been operated by First Group, under the name "First ScotRail".

2. Main Points

2.1 In the 2004-05 financial year, there were 68.7 million passenger journeys on ScotRail services, 6.4 million (10%) more than in the previous year. This represents an increase of about 40% over ten years (the figure for 1994-95 was 49.2 million), and is by far the highest level seen since records of ScotRail passenger numbers began in 1992-93. There have been increases in most years since 1994-95. However, growth in 2000-01 was limited by the effects on rail services of the speed restrictions which were imposed following the accident at Hatfield in October 2000 (for example, some journey times took much longer, the Edinburgh/Glasgow daytime frequency was halved for about two months, and some sleeper services did not run for about five months, with consequent effects on patronage) and there were falls of 4% in 2001-02 and 6% in 2002-03, due to the effects on services of the ScotRail drivers' pay dispute, including some one day strikes and a special timetable (involving a reduction of about a quarter in weekday services) from January to May 2002. Following the resumption of normal service, ScotRail passenger numbers increased by 9% in 2003-04 and 10% in 2004-05. ( Table 8.3)

2.2 At the time this publication was prepared, the latest available figures for the total number of rail passenger journeys originating in Scotland (including those on GNER, Virgin West Coast and Cross County services) were for the 2003-04 financial year. These figures are not as up-to-date as those for the ScotRail franchise because they are produced from a detailed passenger ticket information database which does not become available until some months later. Therefore, these figures cannot show the change in passenger numbers in the most recent year - but they are available back to 1960, and so provide information about longer-term trends. There were 66.1 million rail passenger journeys originating in Scotland in 2003-04. This was 3.9 million (6%) more than in the previous year, and 6.5 million (11%) more than 10 years earlier. Following a fall in the early 1990's, passenger numbers increased in every year after 1994-95, to 67.5 million in 1999-2000. The "Hatfield" and "drivers dispute" problems (see paragraph 2.1) then led to an increase of only 0.2 million in 2000-01 and falls of 2.4 million in 2001-02 and 3.1 million in 2002-03. Subsequently, patronage recovered, with a 6% rise in the number of rail passenger journeys originating in Scotland in 2003-04 and (given the increase in ScotRail passenger numbers that occurred in 2004-05 - see paragraph 2.1), it is expected that the figure for the total number of passenger journeys originating in Scotland in 2004-05 (when it becomes available) will be around 72-73 million. This would be much higher than the previous recent peak level (of around 67-68 million in both 1999/00 and 2000/01), and could be the largest figure since 1964, when there were 73.0 million passenger journeys originating in Scotland (see Table H1). Once the figures for 2004-05 are available, an updated version of the table will be put on the Scottish Executive Transport Statistics Web site (please see the page on this, which is just before the end of the publication). ( Table 8.1)

2.3 There were 63.5 million rail passenger journeys within Scotland during 2003-04, and 2.5 million cross-border journeys originating in Scotland. Total passenger revenue from journeys originating in Scotland was £207.7 million for 2003-04. ( Table 8.1)

2.4 The number of cross-border passenger journeys originating outwith Scotland in 2003-04 was 2.5 million, 0.1 million fewer than in the previous year. Cross-border passenger journeys originating outwith Scotland had been increasing since 1994-95, when they were around 2.2 million, to 2.9 million in 1999-2000. However, they fell slightly in 2000-01 and 2002-03 due to the problems referred to above. Passenger revenue for cross-border passenger journeys originating outwith Scotland was £63.6 million in 2003-04. ( Table 8.2)

2.5 The total number of rail passenger journeys on services which were supported by the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive rose between 1994-95 and 1999-2000, from roughly 36 million to 43 million per year. They remained at 43.1 million for 2000-01, but subsequently fell in each of the following 2 years before increasing again to 44.9 million in 2004-05 (an increase of 24% over 1994-95 and 7% on 2003-04). The number of passenger-kilometres travelled on such services rose by 9% to 787 million in 2004-05 compared with 2003-04. Passenger receipts rose from £53.13 million in 2003-04 to £60.04 million in 2004-05, an increase of 13% in cash terms and 10% in real terms. ( Table 8.3)

2.6 In 2004-05, there was a total of 23.9 million passenger journeys on ScotRail services other than those supported by SPTE. ( Table 8.3)

2.7 Tables 8.4 to 8.8 provide statistics based on data about passenger journeys which were made using national rail tickets, for which full information about the origin and destination stations is held in the central database. These figures exclude journeys for which full information is not held centrally, such as those made using Strathclyde Passenger Transport Zonecards. In 2003-04, of the 58.4 million passenger journeys to, from or within Scotland (counting outward and return journeys separately) for which full details are available from the central database, 91% were within Scotland. The main origins or destinations of cross-border passenger journeys were London (1.2 million), North West England (1.1 million) and North East England (1.1 million). ( Table 8.4)

2.8 In 2002-03, 64% of passenger journeys using national rail tickets to Aberdeen involved travelling distances of 100+ kms. For such passenger journeys to Edinburgh, 43% were between 20 kms and 49.99 kms, and for passenger journeys using national rail tickets to Glasgow, the distance band with the highest percentage (28%) was 10 kms to 19.99 kms. ( Table 8.5)

2.9 In 2003-04, there were 53.4 million passenger journeys, wholly within Scotland, using national rail tickets. About 21.7 million of these started at a station within Glasgow, 6.7 million started in Edinburgh, 2.6 million in North Lanarkshire, and 2.2 million each in Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire. Of these journeys within Scotland, there were 7.6 million within Glasgow, 4.3 million between Glasgow and North Lanarkshire (with roughly half that number in each direction), 3.7 million between Glasgow and South Lanarkshire, 3.0 million between Edinburgh and Fife, 2.9 million between Glasgow and Renfrewshire, 2.5 million between Edinburgh and Glasgow, 2.2 million between Edinburgh and West Lothian 2.2 million between Glasgow and East Dunbartonshire, and 2.1 million between Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire. ( Table 8.6)

2.10 Tables 8.7 and 8.8 provide information about passenger journeys, made using national rail tickets, which were recorded as being to or from individual stations. The figures for the usage of some of these stations would have been higher, if full information about the numbers of journeys made using SPT Zonecards were recorded centrally, and if it were possible to count against the appropriate destination a journey which was made using a ticket which specified that the destination was a particular SPT zone within Glasgow. In 2002-03, Glasgow Central was the busiest national rail station in Scotland, with just under 23 million passenger journeys using national rail tickets to or from it. Edinburgh Waverley was used by over 12 million passengers, Paisley Gilmour Street by 2.6 million, Glasgow Queen Street by 2.0 million, Charing Cross (Glasgow) and Aberdeen by 1.8 million each, Stirling by 1.4 million, Dundee and Ayr by 1.2 million each, Partick and Haymarket by 1.1 million each. Including those already listed, there was a total of 33 stations for which more than half a million passenger journeys each were recorded in the national ticketing system. ( Table 8.7)

2.11 Of the stations in Scotland which have opened (or re-opened) since 1970, the ones with the largest numbers of passenger journeys using national rail tickets recorded in 2003-04 were Bathgate (585,000), Livingston North (568,000), Argyle Street (409,000), Exhibition Centre (396,000), South Gyle (356,000), Dyce (239,000), Uphall (226,000) and Dalgety Bay (201,000). Again, the figures for some stations would be higher, if full information about the numbers of journeys made using SPT Zonecards were recorded centrally, and if it were possible to count against the appropriate destination a journey where the ticket specified that destination was an SPT zone . ( Table 8.8)

2.12 For the purpose of compiling rail punctuality statistics, regional operators' services are counted as "on time" if they arrive at their final destination under five minutes late, and long-distance operators' services are "on time" if they arrive under ten minutes late. In 2004-05, the percentage of trains arriving on time was 83.1% for ScotRail, 77.8% for Virgin Cross Country, 77.5% for GNER and 72.1% for Virgin West Coast. ( NB: these figures relate to all trains run by these operators - not just to their Scottish services). For all GB long-distance operators it was 79.1% and for all GB regional operators it was 82.7%. Although the figures for 2004-05 were, in general, higher than the equivalent figures for the previous three years (which were affected by the factors described in paragraph 2.1), they are all below the levels generally achieved in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 ( Table 8.9)

2.13 In 2004-05, 93% of ScotRail trains arrived on time or under ten minutes late, 2.1% arrived 20 or more minutes late, and 1.1% were cancelled. ( Table 8.10)

2.14 The number of passengers "in excess of capacity" (see paragraphs 3.16 to 3.18) on Edinburgh commuter services across the Forth was 2.0% in 2003. Such information was not collected in 2004. ( Table 8.11)

2.15 In 2004, 85% of ScotRail passengers were either "satisfied" or said "good" when asked their opinion of their overall journey. The equivalent figure was 84% for non-ScotRail passengers whose journeys started in Scotland, 82% for all GB regional operators and 81% for all GB long-distance operators. The table shows ScotRail passengers' ratings of 14 aspects of service: in 2004, there were 11 for which at least 70% of those surveyed were satisfied, or said "good". ( Table 8.12)

2.16 In 2003-04, 8.33 million tonnes of freight was lifted in Scotland by rail, 9% less than the previous year, but 66% more than the amount in 1993-94. Of all freight lifted in Scotland, half (50%) was delivered elsewhere within the UK and about a twentieth (5%) was delivered outwith the UK (because of the way that the statistics are compiled, this figure includes freight for export which was delivered to a port in Britain, as well as Channel Tunnel traffic). The amount of freight lifted in Scotland with a destination in Scotland had increased by 1.75 million tonnes (87%) over the period 1993-94 to 2003-04. In 2003-04, coal and other minerals accounted for 6.25 million tonnes (75%) of the freight lifted in Scotland. Dividing the number of tonne-kilometres by the number of tonnes gives an average length of haul of 153 kilometres for traffic remaining in Scotland, 395 kilometres for traffic to other parts of the UK, and 716 kilometres for traffic destined for outwith the UK. ( Table 8.13)

2.17 A total of 1.04 million tonnes of freight lifted elsewhere in the UK was delivered in Scotland in 2003-04, along with 0.52 million tonnes of freight from outwith the UK (the latter figure includes imported freight which was lifted at ports in England or Wales). The total amount of freight with a destination in Scotland decreased by 11%, from 5.99 million tonnes in 2002-03 to 5.32 million tonnes in 2003-04. ( Table 8.14)

2.18 The total route length of the railway network in Scotland is 2,729 kilometres, of which 634 kilometres is electrified. These figures do not represent the total length of railway track: a kilometre of single-track and a kilometre of double-track both count as one kilometre of route length. ( Table 8.15)

2.19 The number of passenger stations has increased from 330 in 1994-95 to 336 in 2004-05, a decrease on the previous year (339). ( Table 8.16)

2.20 The local authorities which had the largest numbers of stations located in their areas in 2003 were Glasgow (59) and Highland (58). Three mainland councils did not have any stations in their areas: Clackmannanshire, Midlothian and Scottish Borders. ( Table 8.17)

2.21 On the Glasgow Subway, over the past ten years, the number of passenger journeys has fluctuated between about 13.3 million and 14.7 million. In 2004-05, it remained almost constant at 13.3 million. Passenger receipts (excluding other revenue) were over £10.9 million in 2004-05, 6% more in cash terms, and 3% more in real terms, than in the previous year . ( Table 8.18)

2.22 In 2004 there were 49 train accidents, a decrease of 1 (2%) on the previous year's total of 50. The number of deaths as a result of railway accidents, trespassers and suicides decreased from 27 in 2003 to 19 in 2004. ( Table 8.19)

2.23 Of the 19 fatalities on the railways in Scotland in 2004, 14 were suicides, 4 were trespassers and 1 was a level crossing user. No passengers were killed. ( Table 8.20)

3. Notes and Definitions

Passenger journeys and associated receipts

3.1 All the statistics are based on the sales of tickets, with the rail industry's central ticketing system (formerly called CAPRI - Computer Analysis of Passenger Revenue Information, now replaced and renamed LENNON - Latest Earnings Nationally Networked Over Night) being the source of most of the figures. A passenger who buys more than one ticket in the course of a journey will be counted more than once. For example, consider someone who travels from A to B, and then on to C. Suppose that he/she buys a single ticket for the journey from A to B, and a separate ticket to go from B to C. Such a person's trip would be counted as two separate passenger journeys, because two tickets were purchased.

3.2 As the statistics are based on ticket sales, they do not include journeys made by people without tickets, journeys made by railway staff using special passes, and journeys made by blind people under a free concessionary travel scheme.

3.3 LENNON does not record directly sales of certain products, including:

• some operator-specific tickets;
• some types of promotional fares (such as "two for the price of one") and combined rail plus "add-on" tickets ( e.g. covering a journey by rail and admission to an attraction);
• multi-modal "travelcard"-type tickets, such as the Strathclyde Passenger Transport "Zonecard".

Separate estimates of the total numbers of passenger journeys made using such tickets are added to the database at a later stage. So, if someone used a Zonecard to travel from a suburban station to a Glasgow terminus and then bought a single to (say) Aberdeen, it would be counted in the statistics as two passenger journeys.

3.4 Passenger journeys: the figures in Tables 8.1 to 8.3 were based on data which have been subject to the " ORCATS" process (Operational Research Computer Allocation of Tickets to Services) This uses the ticket sales information from LENNON to allocate the revenue from a passenger's ticket to the Train Operating Companies which provide the services on the route or routes which were used for the passenger's journey. In the ORCATS process, a passenger journey which would involve a change of operator is counted once for each of the operators which would be used in the course of the journey. For example, a journey made using a through ticket from (say) North Berwick to Carlisle would be counted twice, to reflect the fact that the passenger would use one operator's service from North Berwick to Edinburgh, and then have to change at Edinburgh to another operator's service to Carlisle. This is done in order that the revenue relating to the ticket can be allocated pro rata to the operators of the different services. Therefore, the figures in Tables 8.1 to 8.3 represent the numbers of different operators used in the course of journeys, not the actual numbers of "journeys undertaken". The figures in these tables also include estimates of the numbers of journeys (or parts of journeys) made using tickets (such as Zonecards) whose sales are not recorded directly by LENNON (some of these estimates are added after the allocation process). The figures in Tables 8.1 to 8.3 are on the same basis as the "Rail usage" and "Train Operating Company" figures in the "National Rail Trends" yearbook, although they differ slightly in the way the Zonecard adjustment is made.

3.5 Journeys originating in Scotland, andcross-border journeys: the statistics are compiled on the basis of where each journey starts. For example, a return ticket between (say) Edinburgh and London is counted as two cross-border journeys: one originating in Scotland, and one originating elsewhere. Someone who used a Zonecard to travel from a suburban station to, say, Glasgow Central, and then bought a single to (say) Manchester, would be counted as making one "internal (within Scotland)" journey and one "cross-border originating in Scotland" journey.

3.6 Journeys made using season tickets, Zonecards, etc: the numbers of journeys made by holders of season tickets are estimated using the standard factors adopted for the production of National Rail passenger statistics. The number of rail journeys that are made using Zonecards is estimated using information from Strathclyde Passenger Transport's surveys of the journeys made by a sample of holders of different types of Zonecards.

3.7 Ticket types: the following are identified:

• Full fare - e.g. first class, standard single and standard open return;
• Reduced fare - e.g. saver, supersaver, cheap day return, special "promotional" fares, such as "two for the price of one" and combined rail plus "add-on" tickets (see below). This category encompasses both the separate "reduced" and "other non-season" categories that appeared in the previous edition, because they cannot be distinguished properly in the data available from LENNON;
• Season tickets - includes Zonecards.

3.8 Comparisons with figures for British Rail years: as described earlier, there is an element of multiple-counting in some of the statistics for recent years, in the case of those figures for which a through journey involving services provided by more than one operator is counted once for each operator whose trains were used. This contrasts with the results for earlier years, for which most through-ticketed journeys were counted only once, irrespective of any changes made. It is not known precisely when this change was made, but it is thought to date from some time in the 1980s.

3.9 Revenue: this includes all ticket revenue and miscellaneous charges associated with passenger travel, such as car park charges earned by the Train Operators. In the case of combined rail plus "add-on" tickets ( e.g. for example, a ticket which covers both a journey by rail and admission to an attraction, or a ticket which covers both a journey by rail and a bus, taxi or ferry journey from the destination station), the figures held in the database for revenue from the sales of such tickets do not indicate how much relates to the rail travel. Therefore, all the revenue from the sales of such tickets are counted in these statistics.

3.10 Concessionary fares: the figures for revenue include payments made by passengers for concessionary fares, but not the additional payments made by local authorities and Strathclyde Passenger Transport to reimburse the train operator for the difference between the concessionary fare and the normal fare for the journey (because these are not recorded in the database).

3.11 Passenger journeys made usingnational rail tickets: the figures in Tables 8.4 to 8.6 are the numbers of passenger journeys made using national rail tickets, which are noticeably smaller than the numbers in the earlier tables. This is because the figures in Tables 8.4 to 8.6 were produced from LENNON information about the numbers of through tickets sold for journeys between particular destinations. In this case, a journey from (say) North Berwick to Carlisle made using a through ticket would be counted only once, even though it involves a change of operator. In addition, as indicated earlier, LENNON does not record directly certain types of rail journeys (such as those which are made using some types of promotional fares, combined rail plus "add-on" tickets, and multi-modal "travelcard"-type tickets, such as the Strathclyde Passenger Transport "Zonecard") - as the origin and destination stations for such journeys are not known, their numbers are not included in these statistics. The figures in Tables 8.4 to 8.6 are on the same basis as the "Regional usage profiles" figures in "National Rail Trends" yearbook.

3.12 Passenger journeys, using national rail tickets, to and from particular stations: the figures in Tables 8.7 and 8.8 are also produced from information about through tickets sold for journeys between different destinations, and are subject to the same points as were made in the previous paragraph. However, there are differences, because the figures in these tables aim to represent the numbers of people using each individual station. Normally, a single journey between two stations within Scotland will be counted twice (once against the origin station and once against the destination station) and a single journey between Scotland and England will be counted only once (against only the station in Scotland). However, when the Strategic Rail Authority produced the figures, there were two complications, the second of which caused some journeys to be counted less than this:

• in the case of some places with more than one station, it is possible to buy a ticket which allows travel to and from any of the stations at that place. Such tickets are recorded in the database as being to/from a "group" station ( e.g. "Glasgow stations") rather than being to/from any particular station ( e.g. Central or Queen Street). When the SRA produced statistics of the numbers of passengers using each station (like those in Table 8.7), it split the numbers of journeys made using tickets which specified origins/destinations as places ( e.g. Glasgow) between the relevant stations. The SRA did this in whatever way appeared most appropriate in each case, based on information about services and passenger numbers for the places concerned.
• it is possible to purchase national rail tickets for travel between a particular station (or place) and an SPT zone in Glasgow - the ticket allows the traveller to use any of the stations in that SPT zone. Such tickets are recorded in the database as being between the specified place and the SPT zone. In such cases, when it produced the "station usage" statistics, the SRA counted journeys against origins/destinations outwith Glasgow as described above. However, the SRA did not count origins/destinations which were recorded as SPT zones against any of the Glasgow stations, because it had no basis on which to split the journeys made using such tickets between the stations in the zones. The result is a further underestimation of the number of passengers using Glasgow stations (in addition to the exclusions, mentioned earlier, such as journeys made using SPT Zonecards). As a result, the total of the figures produced on this basis for all the stations is Scotland is about 5% less than the total usage of Scottish stations that one would obtain from Table 8.4 by simply counting each journey within Scotland twice, and each cross-border journey once. ( NB: this complication does not affect the numbers of journeys between council areas shown in Table 8.6, because the SRA counted all " SPT zone" journey origins and destinations as being within Glasgow.)

The SRA produced "station usage" figures on this basis for every station in Great Britain, and made them available on its Web site, as described in section 5.

Rail punctuality - Public Performance Measure

3.13 The Public Performance Measure ( PPM) combines punctuality and reliability into a single measure of the performance of individual trains against the planned timetable for the day, which may differ from the published timetable ( e.g. due to engineering works, speed restrictions, flooding, etc).

3.14 For "long-distance" operators (such as GNER, Virgin CrossCountry and Virgin West Coast) the PPM is the percentage of trains arriving within ten minutes of timetable at the final destination; for "regional" operators (such as ScotRail) the PPM is the percentage arriving within five minutes of timetable. (The definitions differ because, in general, "long-distance" operators' trains run further than "regional" operators' trains.) The figures relate to all the services which are provided by the operator, so (for example) the PPM for GNER is an overall measure for all its trains, not just for those which run to, from or within Scotland.

3.15 Trains which complete their journey are measured for punctuality at the final destination. When a train fails to run its entire planned route, calling at all timetabled stations, it is either shown as "cancelled" (if it runs less than half of its planned mileage) or counted in the "20 or more minutes late" band. Therefore, such a train would not be counted as arriving at the final destination within the number of minutes specified in the PPM.

Passengers in excess of capacity

3.16 From 2001 to 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority monitored overcrowding on Edinburgh commuter services across the Forth Bridge . Passengers in excess of capacity ( PIXC) was calculated for weekday commuter trains which arrived in Edinburgh between 07:00 and 09:59, or which departed between 16:00 and 18:59.

3.17 PIXC was calculated as the number of passengers travelling in excess of capacity on all of the specified services divided by the total number of passengers travelling on those services, and expressed as a percentage. For journeys of more than 20 minutes, capacity was deemed to be the number of standard class seats on the train; for journeys of 20 minutes or less, there was also an allowance for standing room (which varies with the type of rolling stock - e.g. for modern sliding door stock, it was typically of the order of 35% of the number of seats).

3.18 The SRA set limits on the level of PIXC at 4.5% on one peak, and 3.0% across both peaks. However, there is no requirement to monitor passengers in excess of capacity under the current Scottish passenger rail franchise, which applies from 17 October 2004 (the date when First Group took over the operation of the ScotRail franchise) - and therefore such information was not collected in 2004.

Rail passenger satisfaction: National Passenger Survey

3.19 Passengers' ratings of their train journeys are shown in three groups: those which are regarded as "generic"; those which relate to the station; and those which relate to the journey.

3.20 The table shows the percentages who said that they were satisfied / very satisfied with each factor, or who rated it as "good / very good". The difference between the percentage shown for a factor and 100% is made up of both

1. those who said that they were dissatisfied / very dissatisfied, or who rated it "poor / very poor"; and
2. those who said that they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, or who rated it neither "good / very good" nor "poor / very poor".

3.21 A passenger who changes trains in the course of a journey is asked for his/her views of the first station and the first train that was used in the journey. In all analyses, such a person's answers are counted against the operator of the first train.

3.22 ScotRail is classified as a regional operator by the Strategic Rail Authority, therefore results for ScotRail should be compared with those for all GB regional operators that appear in the table. 'Others whose journey started in Scotland' is made up of long distance routes and these results should be compared with all GB long distance operators.

Freight traffic

3.23 Freight traffic: the figures for 1996-97 onwards were prepared from information supplied by the rail freight companies. The numbers of tonne-kilometres in those years relate to the whole distance that the freight is carried on the companies' trains, not just to that part of the journey which is within Scotland.

3.24 Origins and destinations of freight traffic: three points should be noted about the figures which have been provided by the rail companies for 1996-97 onwards:

There are no statistics available for freight lifted or delivered "outwith UK" in the years prior to 1996-97. In the figures that were produced for those years, traffic delivered by rail to ports for export was counted on the basis of the location of the port, and so was counted under either "Scotland" or "elsewhere in the UK". Similarly, freight which was imported, and picked up by rail at a port, was counted on the basis of the location of the port. However, the figures that were produced for those years excluded any international freight traffic through the Channel Tunnel (for which freight services commenced in June 1994).

Other statistics

3.25 Railway Accidents: the statistics are of railway incidents statutorily reported under " The Reporting of Incidents, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 ( RIDDOR)". These regulations came into force on the 1 April 1996 and brought railway accident reporting in line with other industry accident reporting. The fatalities are classified by the former Region because those are the areas which are shown in the Rail Atlas which HM Railway Inspectorate uses to identify the locations of the fatalities. Due to an EU safety directorate which comes into force in 2006, railway accident statistics in table 8.19 and 8.20 have been changed from a "financial year" basis to a "calendar year" basis with effect from 2003.

4. Sources

4.1 Tables 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 (ScotRail figures) and 8.4 to 8.8 were supplied (or updated) by the Strategic Rail Authority, which produced the numbers of passenger journeys, and the associated revenue, from information held in the LENNON database This records the number of tickets, and the associated revenue, for journeys between every pair of railway stations in Great Britain, and other information, such as estimates (which are sent to it by ScotRail) of the numbers of rail journeys which were made by holders of Strathclyde Passenger Transport's multi-modal Zonecard - for further details, please see the notes and definitions in Section 3. (The figures for 2002-03 and earlier years in Tables 8.1 and 8.2, which also appeared in previous editions of this publication, were supplied at the time by the Association of Train Operating Companies, which derived them in a similar way.)

4.2 The SPT figures in Table 8.3, and the figures in Table 8.18, were compiled from information provided by Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive.

4.3 The rail punctuality (Public Performance Measure) figures in Table 8.9 and 8.10 were provided by the Strategic Rail Authority. The punctuality of trains is generally recorded using automated monitoring systems, which log performance using the signalling equipment.

4.4 The Passengers in Excess of Capacity figures in Table 8.11 were provided by the Strategic Rail Authority, based on the train operating company's annual Autumn count of passengers in excess of capacity.

4.5 The rail passenger satisfaction survey figures in Table 8.12 were provided by the Strategic Rail Authority. The survey is conducted by distributing self-completion questionnaires, with reply-paid envelopes, at about 620 stations across GB, which are selected to be representative of the entire network, including about 46 stations in Scotland. The questionnaires are distributed at different times of the day and across different days of the week. There are two survey periods per year: Spring and Autumn. The overall response rate is about 40%. The data are weighted to represent the passengers using each operator's services, in terms of the proportions of sales of tickets of different types, with the aim of reflecting the balance between journeys for different purposes, such as commuting, business travel and leisure. The Strategic Rail Authority publishes the results of the Spring and Autumn surveys separately, but has combined them for publication here, in order to provide annual figures.

4.6 Tables 8.13 and 8.14: the figures for 1996-97 and later years were prepared from information supplied by the rail freight companies.

4.7 Tables 8.15, 8.16 and 8.17 were compiled from information supplied by Network Rail.

4.8 Table 8.19 and 8.20 were compiled by HM Railway Inspectorate of the Health and Safety Executive.

5. Further Information

5.1 Rail statistics for Great Britain as a whole are available from the annual DfT publication "Transport Statistics Great Britain" and from the quarterly "National Rail Trends" bulletin, which was produced by the Strategic Rail Authority until June 2005 (subsequent editions will be produced by the Office of Rail Regulation). The "fourth quarter" edition of "National Rail Trends" is a "yearbook" which also includes some figures for individual Train Operating Companies and for Scotland, Wales and the regions of England.

The figures for the 100 busiest stations were extracted from a "station usage" spreadsheet, giving the number of passengers for each station in Great Britain, which the Strategic Rail Authority published on its Web site (at www.sra.gov.uk/pubs2/statistics) in March 2005. Following the transfer of most of the functions of the SRA's Statistics branch to the Office of Rail Regulation (which took place in July 2005), this spreadsheet will become available, in due course, on the ORR Web site, at www.rail-reg.gov.uk .

5.2 Further information about the rail passenger statistics which were provided by the Strategic Rail Authority is available as follows:

• passenger satisfaction - National Passenger Survey: contact Peter Thompson of the Rail Passengers Council (tel: 0870 336 6032)
• other statistics which were provided by the Strategic Rail Authority statistics branch: contact David Greeno of the Office of Rail Regulation (tel: 020 7282 2192).

5.3 For further information about services supported and/or operated by Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive, contact Ron Hunter, SPTE (tel: 0141 333 3297).

5.4 For further information on railway accidents, contact Mr Paul Wilkinson, HM Railway Inspectorate (tel: 0207 717 6521) or e-mail paul.wilkinson@hse.gsi.gov.uk.

5.5 For further information on the statistics supplied by Network Rail, contact Mr David Boyce (tel: 0141 335 3350).

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