Morning Tube usage drops 5% the day after work-from-home announcement

Morning Tube use dropped 5% on Thursday, the day after new work-from-home restrictions were announced in light of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

The figures released, from TfL, compare week-on-week use in early mornings.

The Government’s advice to work from home doesn’t yet apply (it comes into effect Monday 13 December).

It is worth noting that, for the Tube, the drop week-on-week began before the Wednesday 8 December announcement. On Monday the same week, the ridership had fallen 1%, Tuesday 2%, Wednesday 3%.

This morning (Friday), the week-on-week drop was less severe than yesterday, at 3%.

A TfL spokesperson said: “The Government’s decision to require people to work from home from Monday will naturally result in a drop in TfL’s ridership. We continue to assess what impact this announcement will have on overall ridership levels, and crucially our operating income which relies heavily on fares revenue.”

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