The use of public transport has recovered significantly over recent months in western Europe but the picture ranges hugely between countries.
A study by research group ING Think found that public transport traffic has now recovered to above 80 per cent of pre-Covid levels across western Europe.
The rebound is much more advanced in countries such as France and Germany, which are now seeing more public transport traffic than before the pandemic.
This compares with the UK and the Netherlands where passengers are still “significantly below” previous numbers, with cities such as London seeing a larger fall in passengers than the overall country average.
ING said this difference between countries had been driven by initiatives from some governments, with France banning domestic flights where there is an alternative rail route and Germany introducing full-day €9 tickets for train travel.
Meanwhile, the recovery in the UK and the Netherlands has been slowed by the higher proportion of working from home.
“For many large corporates, working from home for at least 20-50 per cent of the time is part of the new hybrid working,” said ING. “The UK and the Netherlands both have economies with large services sectors causing public transport passenger volumes to lag the most. In France, remote working is less common.”
The study said that the recovery in public transport numbers in the UK and Netherlands would “take time”, with government initiatives likely to be deployed to boost traffic.
It also found that leisure travel volumes have picked up faster than commuter traffic, with demand recovering quicker at weekends than weekdays across western Europe.
“While government support programmes are likely to help, post-pandemic growth scenarios look different and come with more uncertainty as public transport remains sensitive to new waves of infections and social distancing measures,” added ING in its report.