Young people are increasingly using the railways as costs of petrol and car insurance soar.
Record numbers of young people are using the 16-25 Railcard, making 50 million journeys by rail every year. This is an increase of 60 per cent compared to five years ago, according to ATOC.
There were over 1.2million 16-25 Railcard holders last year, almost a third higher than the 950,000 who had a Railcard in 2005.
On average, young people with a Railcard make an annual saving of £159 a year off the cost of their rail travel and make around 40 journeys by rail a year.
Hefty car insurance premiums penalise young people. The average premium quoted for young women recently topped £1,800. Young men face even steeper quotes averaging over £3,100.
On top of this forecourt fuel prices have also climbed by almost a quarter – 23% – over the past two years to 133.7p per litre by the end of 2011, adding even more pressure to the cost of motoring faced by young people.
