Growth in rail commuting boosts Northern passenger numbers to nearly 100 million

Rail operating company, Northern, served nearly 100 million passengers in 2025, up 10% on the previous year and setting a new post-pandemic record.

A total of 98.6 million journeys were taken during the calendar year, up 8.8 million on 2024. Commuting was a key driver of growth, with season ticket journeys rising by 10% year-on-year, and growth was strongest on routes into major city centres across the region, such as Manchester (12% growth), Liverpool (19%), and Newcastle (27%).

December 2025 was a particularly strong month for the rail network across the North. More than eight million journeys were made during the month, a 12% increase on December 2024 and the highest December total since before the pandemic.

Alex Hornby, Commercial and Customer Director at Northern, said:

“2025 was a landmark year for Northern in terms of customer growth. 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.

“We’re focused on building on this momentum by continuing to improve the experience for our customers, but we’re not complacent. We’re working harder than ever to deliver the performance that customers rightly expect, and there will be even more enhancements coming to our network throughout 2026”.

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,650 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England, including the majority of local stations and services across Stockport.