By Guy Taylor
Rail strikes have failed to stop Londoners heading into the office this year, new data shows.
Almost two in five Londoners (38 per cent) are commuting more frequently than they were at the start of the year, according to new data from Virgin Media’s O2 Business Mover Index, covering January to March.
Wednesday was the capital’s most popular day to commute with 73 per cent of workers traveling into work, followed by Tuesday and Thursday, which saw levels of 66 per cent.
The findings, gathered by polling 3,000 businesses and consumers and studying anonymised moving data from the mobile network, cover a period marred by rail and tube strikes and economic turbulence.
“Despite the cost of living crisis and ongoing strikes, Londoners are embracing the return to the workplace [and] commuting more than they were at the start of this year,” Jo Bertram, managing director of Virgin Media O2 business, said.
“With Wednesday emerging as London’s most popular day to commute, the midweek office buzz is back and growing,” she added.
The research also comes just a week after the official completion of the Crossrail project, which brought the Elizabeth Line to the capital last year.
London’s most popular route has been credited with prompting a surge of commuters to flock back to the office this year, with footfall data from the workspace operator IWG showing a 23 per cent increase in the number of visits to offices across nine Elizabeth Line stops.
Bertram also cited the new line as boosting commuter levels, telling City A.M. she expected to see the “growth continue as journeys into central London become shorter and more accessible with new infrastructure like the Elizabeth Line”.
The route now accounts for one in six of all rail journeys made in the UK, according to figures released by the Office for Rail and Road in March.
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