1. Introduction

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

1.2 Detailed information on passenger journeys and receipts, and on rail freight, for recent years has not been obtained for this edition of the publication. It is hoped these can be collected for the next edition.

2. Main Points

2.1 Over the past ten years, the number of passenger journeys originating in Scotland has remained between 50 and 55 million per year. It is estimated that the total number of passenger journeys in 1996-97 increased by 5% over the previous year. (Table 8.1)

2.2 The amount of freight traffic originating in Scotland was about 10 million tonnes per year in the late 1980s, and then declined to around 5 million tonnes per year in the mid-1990s. It is estimated that there was an increase in 1996-97. (Table 8.2)

2.3 Total route length has remained at around 2,700 km over the past ten years. (Table 8.6)

2.4 The number of passenger stations has increased from 298 in 1987-88 to 332 in 1997-98. (Table 8.7)

2.5 The number of railway accidents fell in 1997-98 by 17% on the previous year to 119. However, the number of deaths as a result of railway accidents in 1997-98 was 18, two more than in the previous year (16), which had been the lowest number for many years. The number of deaths in 1997-98 was 44% less than the number in 1987-88 (32). Due principally to the inclusion of a much larger number of injuries due to accidents on railway premises, the 327 injuries recorded in 1997-98 however was more than three times the number in 1987-88 (97). (Table 8.8)

2.7 On the Glasgow Underground over the past ten years the number of passenger journeys has remained between about 13.5 million and roughly 14.5 million. In 1996-97, the number of journeys decreased by 4 per cent on the previous year to 13.7 million. Passenger receipts increased slightly in real terms to £8.1 million. (Table 8.9)

3. Notes and Definitions

3.1 Passenger journeys: the total numbers of passenger journeys originating in Scotland in 1993-94 and subsequent years have been estimated by The Scottish Office using information supplied by ScotRail and an allowance for the passenger numbers for other operators. It is hoped to obtain definitive figures for future editions.

3.2 Freight traffic originating in Scotland: the tonnages lifted in 1995-96 and 1996-97 have been estimated by The Scottish Office using information about the increases in the numbers of tonne-kilometres in those years. It is hoped to obtain definitive figures for future editions.

4. Sources

4.1 Tables 8.1 and 8.2 relate to passenger and freight traffic originating in Scotland on ScotRail, InterCity and Freight Services.

4.2 Tables 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 and 8.9 are based on Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) figures.

4.3 Table 8.5 was compiled from data received from Red Star Parcels, but as such data is no longer available, this table will be dropped from future editions.

4.4 Table 8.6 and 8.7 data is supplied by Railtrack Scotland.

4.5 Table 8.8 data is supplied by the Health and Safety Executive.

5. Further Information

5.1 Further information on GB rail statistics can be found in the annual DETR publication "Transport Statistics Great Britain" and in DETR's quarterly "Rail Statistics" bulletins.

4.2 For further information on rail traffic contact Ms Lucy de Jong, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (tel: 0171 271 3769).

4.3 For further information on railway accidents contact Mr Paul Wilkinson, Health and Safety Executive (tel: 0171 717 6000)