The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has released figures showing that rail is capturing market share from air on key UK domestic routes.

ATOC attributes the growth between 2008 and June of this year both to the increase in use of rail and a dip in the numbers choosing to fly between some city pairs.

According to its figures, market share for rail between Birmingham and Edinburgh has risen from 14% to 31% and between Birmingham and Glasgow from 15% to 27%. Market share for rail between London and Manchester has gone from 69% in 2008 to 85% in June 2010 and between London and Glasgow from 12% in 2008 to 21% in June.

ATOC also reports that between 2006 and 2009, total journeys by rail on the 10 most popular domestic air routes rose by 31%, while over the same period, the number of travellers using domestic air travel fell by 20%.

Edward Welsh, Director of Corporate Affairs at ATOC, said: “It is clear that a fundamental shift in the way that people get around the country is taking place.

“Considerable improvements have been made on the railways in the last few years to cut journey times, run more frequent services and to make services even better for passengers. “Rail passenger satisfaction has never been higher, punctuality has never been better, the number of complaints has never been lower and investment in rail has never been more sustained – which all adds up to great value for money.”

Why not look at our monthly list of the top 20 rail routes in the UK or, if you are a subscriber, see our exlcusive charts of average first class on those routes or standard class fares.

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