The DFTO has announced that with an increase in the number of people commuting to work, railway operators in public ownership have seen an increase in the number of season tickets sold.

Season tickets include annual, monthly, and weekly tickets, and flexi tickets that allow travel on a set number of days in a defined period.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Northern, and TransPennine Express, which are all publicly-owned, reported an overall 10% yearly increase in season ticket sales.

On Northern’s network, around season tickets are used for 175,000 journeys a week, with sales of annual and monthly tickets showing an average increase of 14%. As well as the normal season tickets, Northern also offers a 50% discount on child season tickets.

For journeys on TransPennine Express, season tickets are used for an average of 46,138 journeys each week. The largest increase has been in the demand for flexiseason tickets, which allow travel on any eight days in 28 days, and have increased by 81% in the last 12 months.

Over the last year, Greater Anglia has seen a rise in commuting, with over 12.8 million journeys made using season tickets, helped by an increase of 11.1% in annual season ticket sales, 5.2% in monthly season tickets, and 5.2%, and 16.5% flexible season tickets.

Southeastern commuters now travel to work for an average of four days a week, up 4% on last year, with the Key smartcard being used by 64% of commuters.

c2c has seen a similar increase in commuter travel following the launch of pay-as-you-go (PAYG) in February 2025, and peak-hour journeys on Mondays and Fridays have increased by around 5% over the last year.

“Travel patterns were completely upended by the pandemic, and we’ve been through several new normals since then. To meet the new normal, operators have needed to transform ticket offerings to provide customers with more choice and greater flexibility, enticing them back into the office. The steady growth of season ticket sales this past year is a clear demonstration that it is working, with employees steadily coming back. We constantly review data on passenger journeys to ensure we meet demand, and we offer a range of tickets to help everyone looking to save money on their commute.”

Alex Hornby, customer and commercial director at Northern