I think the key issue for the railway to tackle is how it provides value for money for potential passengers. This seems to be a key barrier to people actually catching the train for discretionary purposes.
In a way I'm a captive audience as I don't drive and am well disposed towards using the train. However there are barriers that put even me off. The key one is cost. I'm aware that I can potentially catch a train to the south coast and that it can be a reasonable price for example, but the rigmorole of having to book separate legs and travel at specific times tends to put me off.
Between lockdowns I was looking to visit a family member in London, but there didn't seem to be any decently priced options on that weekend (even trying to book a few weeks in advance) so I gave up. I very much doubt the trains that I would have caught would have been "ram-packed" at the time, but that's revenue lost.
I enjoy going to the coast, however a day trip to places such as Whitby and Scarborough which are on the other side of Yorkshire, tends to be £30+, even with split ticketing. At the moment I have a bit more leeway to pay those prices as I have more money due to everything else being shut, but will this be the case when there are other options competing for my wallet.
By contrast, the things that attract me to rail travel are good value and convenience. Examples of this are:
- The Dales Railcard means that I can travel on those routes on a whim, and often do (when the timetable is operating).
- The network card also encouraged me to travel out and about in the South East when I could justify owning one.
- The groupsave offers on South Eastern, Southern and Great Western encouraged myself and the family to get out and about.
- London North Western (whatever it's called) allowed me to rock up and buy an open return to London for a reasonable price. OK, i had to get to Crewe to take advantage, which was a rigmorole, but if there were such an option from somewhere near here I would be all over it. I think it would be worth having this sort of budget option for longer distance travel available more widely on the network.
The way I look at it is if some of these issues are barriers for me, than they will be even bigger barriers for people with more options such as motorists. That's not to say that motorists are a lost cause. My dad used to love driving his car - it was a leisure activity in itself for him. Yet he's also always enjoyed being able to have a snooze on the train at times.