Northern has recorded its busiest month since before the Covid pandemic, with more than 8.1 million journeys made on its network between 14 September and 11 October.

The figure marks an 8.3 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, and is the highest number of journeys on Northern in a four-week railway period since February 2020.

Northern has attributed some of the additional remand to a Flash Sale, in which 150,000 Advance tickets were sold.

The operator, which is now state-owned, having been renationalised on 1 March 2020, just before the first Covid lockdowns, said the figure had been achieved despite disruption caused by Storm Amy in early October, and that it reflected ‘continued confidence in rail travel’ in the north.

Northern has been under fire in recent years for poor performance but said it ‘remains focused’ on improving reliability, and has an ambition to achieve no more than 2 per cent cancellations and nine out of ten trains arriving within three minutes of booked time.

Northern’s commercial and customer director Alex Hornby said: ‘This record performance is a testament to the growing strength of our network and the trust our customers place in us.

‘We’re seeing more people than ever choosing Northern for work, leisure and everything in between, and initiatives like the Flash Sale are helping make rail travel more accessible and affordable.’

The latest figures from Northern support other recent statistics which demonstrate a growth trend. Passenger numbers for May this year reached a record monthly high average of 104 per cent a day compared with the totals achieved before the pandemic.

The Office of Rail and Road said there were 1,728.7 million journeys (counting each train used as a separate journey) from April 2024 to March 2025. This was 7 per cent higher compared with a year earlier, while revenues from passenger traffic were up by 8 per cent, at £11.5 billion, but the government remains concerned about the cost of the passenger railway, and further fare increases above inflation are expected in 2026.

What do you think? Click here to let us know.