London Underground halfway back to pre-pandemic levels as Tube passenger return
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The number of passengers using the London Underground has hit about 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels on weekdays for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Transport for London said it has seen a steady increase in use on the network over the summer and is preparing for further rises in September when school returns, reports the Evening Standard.
Stations in the City and Docklands are starting to see passenger numbers climb steadily from the low levels seen over the past 18 months as office workers go back to their desks.
A welcome encouragement for businesses who have been suffering from a lack of commuters in central London.
According to Statista, in the financial year 2020/21, passenger volume dropped to 296m passenger journeys. A decrease from 1337m the previous year, as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
But on August 12, while still only around 30 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, Bank station saw more than 50,000 entry and exit taps, an increase from 15 per cent in April.
Canary Wharf also saw its peak number of passengers recently on August 19 when more than 45,000 people passed through the station.
These rising figures are seen throughout the city, with Oxford Circus now regularly seeing more than 100,000 entries and exits on weekdays and Saturdays, which is around 50 per cent of pre-pandemic figures.
The numbers suggest that while travellers remain cautious, confidence about using London’s public transport networks is slowly growing.