London Tube journeys reach their highest level since March as the city prepares to return to lockdown

• People made 1.56 million London Underground journeys on October 9, the most since lockdown began in March.
• Transport for London (TfL) released the figures just before the UK government announced that the city would return to lockdown at midnight on Friday.
• Last year, passengers made just over 100 million Tube journeys each month. This plummeted to just 5.7 million in April, when England was in full lockdown.
• Tube travel has since picked up again, but the number of journeys remains more than two-thirds down on last year.

Londoners made more Tube journeys on Friday, October 9 than at any other point during the UK's lockdown.

On that day, 1.56 million London Underground journeys were made, according to data from its operator Transport for London (TfL).

The data was released just before the UK government said it would introduce tougher restrictions for the capital from midnight on Friday.

London is moving up to "Tier 2" lockdown, which means that people should avoid using public transport wherever possible.

Residents are instead urged to walk or cycle if possible, and to avoid busy times and routes if travelling on public transport.

In 2019, passengers made just over 100 million Tube journeys each month, data from Transport for London shows. This plummeted to just 5.7 million in April when the country was in full lockdown.

Passenger numbers have since begun to recover as more people return to schools and offices and amenities reopen. London Underground reached 1.52 million journeys on Friday, September 25 — the previous lockdown high before the latest set of figures.

Read more: The coronavirus pandemic is the best thing that has ever happened to Tesla's business

Around 28.8 million Tube journeys were made between July 21 and August 17, the last full month there is data for.

This is less than a third of the number of journeys passengers made during the same period last year.

London bus journeys also remain at less than half their pre-pandemic level, TfL's data shows, with 75.1 million journeys made between July 21 and August 17.