London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Returning London commuters put the rush back into rush hour

Returning London commuters put the rush back into rush hour

Morning trips on the tube were up 17% on last week, and buses saw 39% more passengers
The first signs of a commuter revival in the capital appeared on Monday as London Underground recorded its busiest morning since the start of the pandemic – although schools may have played a bigger role than offices in increasing journeys.

Rush-hour trips on the tube were up 17% from last Tuesday, to just under a million – their highest since March 2020. Buses also saw 39% more passengers, according to Transport for London figures for the period to 10am on Friday.

The rise was particularly pronounced between 8am and 9am, with 22% more tube journeys and 71% more bus trips. Almost 2m contactless “tap-ins” were recorded across the capital’s two main transport modes by 10am.

Schoolchildren and parents travelling appears to have had the biggest impact, with bus journeys already rising rapidly by Friday last week, after most schools returned on Wednesday or Thursday.

However, morning tube numbers rose by 110,000, about 12.5%, from Friday to Monday, suggesting that some commuters have returned in the capital.

According to Network Rail, peak morning footfall at Cannon Street in the heart of London’s financial district for today was 8,909 passengers compared with 6,217 a fortnight ago.

A spokesperson for Canary Wharf Group, where east London’s financial district is located, said it was now busier than at any time since March 2020.

“The number of people back at Canary Wharf varies from our tenants. Some businesses have asked for everybody to return and some are asking people to return in phases. In the meantime, our shops, bars and restaurants are doing really well,” the spokesperson said.

Catherine McGuinness, policy chair at the City of London Corporation, the governing body for the capital’s square mile, said the area is “buzzing again, as the numbers on our streets grow and offices start to come back to life”.

She added: “We urge people to come back to the office and see colleagues in real life – it’s much more fun than on a screen.”

Cafes and restaurants catering for commuters said they were seeing signs of revival in city centres. Spencer Craig, the boss of the Pure cafe chain, which has 20 outlets in London, said sales in its shops were 30% up on Monday compared with a fortnight ago.

“It’s definitely busier today, although from a fairly low base. We wouldn’t expect to see the full impact for the next few days as Mondays look like they are now going to be quiet for ever, but we think that over the next couple of days it will carry on building.”

Pizza Express said trading for its restaurant group was now ahead of 2019 levels. A spokesperson said: “Across the UK the gradual return to office working is translating into slightly increased trade at our city centre sites. We are optimistic that this trend will increase further.”

Steve Grocutt at The Cornish Bakery said: “Our city centre bakeries have been slower to return to full sales … However, those locations have absolutely returned to their form … We’re in significant growth.”

Another sign of recovery in the capital came as British Airways, along with German carrier Lufthansa, restarted flights from London City airport, which mainly serves business travellers.

On the roads, traffic data from TomTom showed that morning rush-hour congestion in London peaked at 61%, almost at 2019 levels, but unchanged from last week.

Data from the West Midlands showed road traffic up from last week in the morning rush hour and approaching 2019 levels of congestion, although Manchester remained well below pre-pandemic levels.

A source from a leading rail operator said there was “no noticeable increase that we have heard about so far”. He said the industry’s “expectation is that it will be next week before we see any commuter-type increases”, despite a marketing campaign to welcome back passengers.

Leisure and weekend travel has returned faster than weekdays compared with pre-pandemic times, according to provisional Department for Transport data up to 30 August.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
×