Northern records record post-pandemic growth in customer journeys during 2025

A total of 98.6 million journeys were taken during the calendar year, representing a 10% increase compared with 2024 and an additional 8.8 million journeys overall.

The figures underline continued growth in rail travel across the North of England as more people return to rail for work, leisure and everyday travel.

Commuting was a key driver of growth, with season ticket journeys rising by 10% year-on-year. This equates to just under one million additional commuter journeys, reflecting growing confidence in rail as a reliable way to travel to work.

Growth was strongest on services into major city centres. Journeys into Manchester rose by 12% year-on-year, while Liverpool saw a 19% increase. Leeds recorded growth of 7%, and Newcastle saw the biggest uplift of all, with journeys increasing by 27% compared with December 2024.

December 2025 was a particularly strong month. 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.

Demand into Newcastle was further boosted by the Northumberland Line, which opened in mid-December 2024 - across the full year, more than 890,000 journeys were made on the Northumberland Line. The route contributed an additional 37,000 journeys into the city during December 2025 alone.

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.