Commuter journeys on Britain’s railways are still at less than half of those before the pandemic.

Industry body the Rail Delivery Group says the number of train journeys made by people travelling to or from work in mid-October was just 45% of what it used to be.

That’s an increase from 33% in late August but highlights the difficulty businesses in city centres businesses face in attracting customers as many people continue to work from home.

London has seen the slowest recovery in commuting, with demand at just 41% of pre-virus levels compared with 54% across the rest of Britain.

Meanwhile, train journeys taken for leisure reasons are at around 90% of what they were before the pandemic.