Northern has celebrated its busiest month of customer travel since before the pandemic, with more than 8.1 million journeys made across its network between 14 September and 11 October 2025. This figure represents an 8.3% increase compared to the same period last year and marks the highest number of journeys in a four-week window since February 2020.

The surge in travel was boosted by Northern’s recent Flash Sale, which saw customers snap up a record 150,000 advance tickets, priced from just £2. Even disruption caused by Storm Amy over the weekend of 4 October did not prevent the operator from achieving this post-pandemic milestone, reflecting continued confidence in rail travel across the North.

Despite celebrating the record, Northern remains focused on improving overall performance. The operator has set a target of no more than 2% of services being cancelled, with 90% arriving within three minutes of schedule, demonstrating a commitment to reliability alongside growing demand.

Alex Hornby, commercial and customer director for Northern, said: “This record performance is a testament to the growing strength of our network and the trust our customers place in us. We’re seeing more people than ever choosing Northern for work, leisure and everything in between - and initiatives like the Flash Sale are helping make rail travel more accessible and affordable. I'd like to thank our customers for trusting Northern - we know there is more work to be done on performance, and we're working hard to get things right.”

Image: Northern Rail