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Tuesday 7 Feb 2023

Millions of active travel journeys now taken to Scotland’s railway stations

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Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

A new report, commissioned by Scotland's Railway and undertaken by Sustrans has revealed more 26 million active travel journeys were taken to stations last year.

A new study has found that almost half of journeys taken to Scotland’s railway stations were on foot, wheelchair, mobility device, or by bike.

The report, commissioned by Scotland’s Railway and undertaken by Sustrans, found that there were 26.7 million ‘active travel’ journeys taken to stations in 2022.

Scotland’s Railway is committed to decarbonising passenger services by 2035 while supporting the wider social and economic shift towards a greener future for the country.

Walking, wheeling and cycling to stations – as opposed to taking non-active modes of transport such as the car or bus – is estimated to prevent more than 600 premature deaths every year in Scotland.

And over the next decade active travel to stations is expected to save the NHS around £80m in treatment costs for diseases related to inactivity, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer and dementia.

During the study, based on a survey of passengers logging into station Wi-Fi, it was found that 42% of journeys were taken on foot or by bike – around 73,000 journeys every day.

Car trips accounted for 28% of journeys to stations, while the bus was taken 15% of the time and a further 15% of journeys were made by ‘other’ types of transport.

John Lauder, Strategic Lead for the Sustainable Travel to Stations strategy in Scotland’s Railway, said: “It’s very pleasing that so many journeys are being made to our stations by active modes of travel.

“While the health benefits of walking and cycling are incredible, the environmental impacts are equally as positive and will only help in reaching the Scottish Government’s net zero ambitions.

“While rail remains one of the greenest forms of transport, we're encouraging even more people to make the switch to active travel to and from our stations. We are currently developing a strategy and a delivery plan designed to make it easy, convenient and safe for most passengers to get to and from our stations with a car.”

Karen McGregor, Scotland Director, Sustrans, said: “This report clearly demonstrates the positive impact on our wellbeing and communities when more people make the switch to greener, healthier and low-carbon travel choices.

“Joined-up planning and investment to make it easier, safer and more accessible for everyone in Scotland to leave the car at home more often is now essential. Walking, wheeling, cycling infrastructure and our public transport systems must complement each other across all our communities.  

“Sustrans look forward to continuing our work with Scotland’s Railway and all our public transport partners to make this vision of a more integrated, low-carbon transport system across Scotland a reality.”