Stats and Facts

Below are some facts and figures relating to rail over the last few years.

Passenger Journeys

Around 1.2 billion passenger journeys were made between April 2006 and March 2007. This was a 6.3% increase on 2005–06 compared to a 3.6% increase between 2004–05 and 2005–06.

88.1% of trains ran on time bewteen April 2006 and March 2007, representing a 1.7% increase from 2005-2006.

Between January 2006 and January 2007 the overall average change in rail fares was 6.8%.

Investment in the rail industry rose from £3.8 billion in 2005−06 to £4.0 billion in 2006−07.

Over 70% of all train journeys start or finish in London. Rail moves 20% more people into London than ten years ago. During the peak periods an average of 451,000 commuters travels by rail into the capital every working day.

Rail is nine times safer than car travel and about the same as air travel.

There are a total of 19,900 passenger train services operated every weekday – 14.5% more than in 1996. They carry 3.15 million passengers per day.

The Rail Network

Britain’s rail network comprises 16,116 route kilometres, over 2,500 stations, 40,000 bridges/tunnels and 9,000 level crossings.

The railways employ over 170,000 people either directly or in supporting industries, with about 80,000 in the train operating companies and Network Rail.

There are a total of 19,900 passenger train services operated every weekday – 14.5% more than in 1996. They carry 3.15 million passengers per day.

Train related World Records

Largest collection of train tickets: Frank Helker (Germany) has a collection of 163,235 that he has amassed since the 1980s. Frank has railway tickets dating from 1902 to 2003.

Largest railway station: The world's largest station by number of platforms is Grand Central Terminal, Park Avenue and 42nd Street, New York City, USA, built from 1903–13, which has 44 platforms. They are situated on two underground levels with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower. The station covers 19 ha (48 acres), and on average some 660 Metro North trains and 125,000 commuters use it every day.

The longest ever train: The longest train ever was 7.353 km (4.568 miles) long, and consisted of 682 ore cars pushed by 8 powerful diesel-electric locomotives. Assembled by BHP Iron Ore, the train travelled 275 km (171 miles) from the company's Newman and Yandi mines to Port Hedland, Western Australia, on 21 June 2001.

The fastest train the world –fastest one to have a driver!: France's famous high-speed train, the TGV, broke its 17-year-old world speed record in April 2007 when it hit a top speed of 357.2 mph. The specially designed black-and-chrome train -- code name V150 for 150 meters per second (or more) -- is made up of three double-decker cars between two powerful engines totalling 25,000 horsepower. Its wheels are bigger than a normal TGV so it can reach high speeds without the engines overheating; the engine's windshield is reinforced.

Fastest diesel train: The former British Rail inaugurated its HST (High Speed Train) daily service between London, Bristol and South Wales on 4 October 1976 using InterCity 125 trains. One of these holds the world speed record for diesel trains, at 238 km/h (148 mph), set on a test run between Darlington, County Durham, and York, North Yorkshire, UK, on 1 November 1987.

Busiest railway company: The world's busiest railway operator is East Japan Railway Company, which in 2003 carried 5.846 billion passengers, at an average of 16 million per day. The company operates 7,530 km (4,679 miles) of network in the east of Japan, including the busy Tokyo metropolitan area.

Heaviest freight train: The heaviest ever train weighed 99,732.1 tonnes (220 million lb) and was 7.353 km (4.568 miles) long. Assembled by BHP Iron Ore (Australia), the train travelled 275 km (171 miles) from the company's Newman and Yandi mines to Port Hedland, Western Australia, on 21 June 2001. The train consisted of 682 ore cars pushed by eight powerful diesel-electric locomotives. It had 5,648 wheels, and was assembled to test out a new train control system, which essentially allows the driver in the front locomotive to control the other seven engines simultaneously, even though they are spaced at intervals of nearly a kilometre along the length of the train. The locomotives were General Electric model AC6000 CW.

Longest train journey without changing trains: The world's longest run without changing trains is one of 10,214 km (6,346 miles) from Moscow, Russia to Pyongyang in North Korea. One train a week makes the journey by this route, which includes sections of the famous Trans-Siberian line. It is scheduled to take 7 days 20 hours 25 minutes.