Two train operators in the north of England are continuing to see their passenger figures recover in the wake of the Covid lockdowns, which began almost six years ago.

Northern recorded 21.9 million journeys in 2020-21, and this had more than quadrupled to 91.8 million by 2024-25 according to the Office of Rail and Road. The operator has now revealed that the total reached 98.6 million in the calendar year of 2025, compared with 108 million journeys recorded in the financial year 2019-20.

The number of journeys recorded on TransPennine Express routes in 2019-20 was 28.6 million, which fell back to 5.4 million the following year because of the pandemic. TPE has staged a slightly stronger recovery since Covid than Northern, because its journey total for 2024-25 was back to 27.5 million.

Some individual stations had recorded much higher percentage increases during the year 2024-25. The number of passengers on Northern using Deansgate in Manchester increased by 62 per cent, while the total at Hindley in Wigan grew by 62 per cent from 148,000 to 240,000. 

Northern said growth was strongest on services to city centres. Journeys to Manchester rose by 12 per cent year-on-year, while Liverpool saw a 19 per cent increase. Leeds recorded growth of 7 per cent, and Newcastle saw the biggest rise, with journeys increasing by 27 per cent compared with December 2024.

Demand for journeys to Newcastle was also boosted by the Northumberland Line, which opened in mid-December 2024 and in the following 12 months added 890,000 journeys to Northern’s total.

Northern’s commercial and customer director Alex Hornby said: ’2025 was a landmark year. Nearly 100 million journeys in a year shows just how important our services are to the economic and social life of the North, and the strong growth we continue to see is further evidence we are moving in the right direction.

‘It is reassuring to see the considerable increases in demand from commuters and on services into our major city centres, alongside the success of new routes like the Northumberland Line. That tells us people want frequent, affordable and reliable rail.’

Both Northern and TransPennine Express are run by DfT Operator, having been renationalised in 2020 and 2023.

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