Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in levels of rail use by (a) business and (b) leisure users; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage rail use by those groups of users.

The department has not made a recent estimate of the number of business and leisure travellers by rail. The last estimate was made for 2020 and was published in 2021 as part of the National Travel Survey.

The department continues to work closely with the rail industry to encourage rail use. Recent initiatives include:

• National marketing campaigns reminding potential passengers of the benefits and good value of rail travel.
• The Great British Rail Sale, the first ever nationwide rail sale. The Great British Rail Sale helped save families money, and connect them with friends and families. Over 1.3 million tickets were sold, offering around £7 million worth of savings for passengers.

The Department is also working with operators and Network Rail to ensure that service levels are appropriate to passenger demand, whilst prioritising the good performance passengers need, and delivering good value for the taxpayer.

The industry will focus on promoting good value rail products such as rail cards, flexible season tickets and Advance on a national, local, and regional level.