Southeastern and Thameslink record strong rail growth in new figures

The British rail network has seen another quarter of strong growth according to recently announced figures.

The network saw an overall eight per cent increase in journeys for the period covering July to September 2025, with Southeastern seeing eight per cent growth and Thameslink at 11 per cent. Oddly Heathrow Express topped the table at 18 per cent, though they are a very minor part of the network. In recent years passenger numbers had tumbled down after the Elizabeth line opened.

LNER topped the national table of larger operators.

Revenue nationally saw six per cent growth, with advance and off-peak (at seven and nine per cent rises respectively) growing faster than peak journeys which are up five per cent. An increase in split tickets has also been noted by the ORR.

Unfortunately data isn’t broken down by type of journey, so, for example on Southeastern split between Metro routes, long distance and HS1.

It should be noted though that these figures are best estimates, and some figures don’t always tally with data seen elsewhere. For example, London Overground is shown as seeing six per cent growth but TfL reports show smaller growth.

London Overground bounced back far quicker after the pandemic compared to National Rail in London, with TfL restoring timetables a likely reason why. Many National Rail routes still sees some cuts retained.

The data also shows trains and train miles operated by both Thameslink and Southeastern lag behind growth.

Stations

Data on station usage released at the end of 2025 saw similar growth across many Southeastern metro station between April 2024 and March 2025.

Many stations saw 5-10 per cent growth with some standout stations between 10-20 per cent. Those were generally in areas of major housing growth with north Kent being another place with sizeable increases.

That station growth should continue given many stations are seeing major housing developments, with Plumstead, Kidbrooke and Woolwich Dockyard to name but three locations seeing large numbers of new builds nearby.

Next week shows new developments set to be approved in Woolwich, Greenwich and Deptford. The Woolwich site was covered last week, while a post on a proposed 20-floor Greenwich tower will follow soon.

It has some relevance to rail growth as there was discussion on improving the walk to Westcombe Park station. The initial travel plan included in the application suggested a bizarre route that few would ever take.