London Underground records busiest morning since first close of 2020 | London

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The London Underground was the busiest since before the first coronavirus shutdown in 2020, although trips to school may have played a bigger role than work commutes in the capital’s increased use of transport.

Rush hour trips on the Tube are up 17% from last Tuesday, while buses have seen a 39% increase in passengers, according to Transport for London figures for the period up to 10am on Friday.

The rise was particularly pronounced between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., with a 22% increase in metro trips and a 71% increase in bus trips. Nearly two million “Tap-ins” were logged across the capital’s two major transportation modes by 10 a.m.

The travel of school children and parents appears to have had the biggest impact, with bus trips rising rapidly by Friday last week, after most schools returned on Wednesday or Thursday.

However, morning tube numbers rose by 110 thousand, or about 12.5%, from Friday to Monday, indicating that some passengers have returned to the capital.

Elsewhere, road traffic data from TomTom showed that morning rush hour congestion in London peaked at 61%, roughly at 2019 levels but unchanged from last week.

Data from the West Midlands showed road traffic rising from last week into the morning rush hour and approaching 2019 congestion levels, although Manchester remains well below pre-pandemic levels, with no significant rise.

National Rail passenger numbers have not been released yet. “There hasn’t been a noticeable increase we’ve heard about yet,” said a source from a leading operating group. “The industry expectation is that it will be next week before we see any increases in passenger type,” he said, despite a marketing campaign to welcome passengers again.

Leisure and weekend travel is back faster than weekdays than before the pandemic, according to provisional DOT data through August 30.

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