Surge in travel as lockdown ends

Demand for travel in England spiked on Wednesday following the end of the national lockdown.

Location technology firm TomTom found that the level of congestion on London’s roads between 11am and noon was 28%, compared with 23% during the same period last week.

Other cities to see an increase in traffic jams include Liverpool (from 24% to 27%), Manchester (from 19% to 23%) and Birmingham (from 20% to 23%).

Congestion levels represent the proportion of additional time required for journeys compared with free-flow conditions.

Transport for London (TfL) said 760,000 journeys were made on the London Underground network on Wednesday from the start of service until 10am.

This was a 14% increase on the same period last week but just 31% of normal demand.

There were 970,000 bus journeys made in the capital, up 8% on last week and 57% of pre-pandemic levels.

Some 1.13 million mainline train journeys were made in London over the same period (33% of usual demand), while 30,000 trips on TfL Rail services were recorded.