*  Visitor numbers up 16% since re-launch
  * 14.5 million users a month on average
  * Key functions used up to 251% more

The National Rail Enquiries (NRE) website has been attracting record numbers of users since its re-launch last December, new figures show.

The average number of monthly visits to the site, www.nationalrail.co.uk, has risen by 16% since it was re-launched. Half a year on, it now gets an average of 14.5 million visits every month, two million more than before the re-launch.

As part of the re-design, greater prominence was given to its range of functions designed to help passengers find the information they need. Statistics show that on average each month:

  * Subscriptions for a range of alerts provided by the site have more than tripled (up 251%)
  * New user registrations have almost tripled (up 199%)
  * Usage of the Cheapest Fare Finder, which scans all the available fares for a selected journey to find the best value train tickets, has risen 28%
  * 22% more people have used live departure boards to view the next available trains to their selected destinations
  * The site has answered 20% more season ticket enquiries.

The re-designed website was launched following sophisticated consumer research. Cameras tracked where users’ gazes fell while using the website and experts analysed how people moved around the site in order to identify areas in which it could be made easier to navigate.

Since the re-launch, work has been continuing to make the website ever stronger in response to customer feedback. New measures have included:

  * Displaying the platforms from which passengers’ trains will depart for over 2,000 stations
  * Introducing tools that allow users of web browser Internet Explorer 8 to view selected parts of the website in a favourites bar, technology known as ‘web slicing’
  * Journeys across London now reflect planned tube closures for engineering works, and tube travel times reflect the service frequency according to time of day and day of week.

Further upcoming improvements include:

  * From 1 July, users will be able to navigate around the site even more smoothly thanks to better positioning of adverts
  * Improving the speed of the site for customers with older web browsers
  * Enabling customers to plan journeys to London Zone 1 tube stations and to Docklands Light Railway stations.

National Rail Enquiries Chief Executive Chris Scoggins said: “National Rail Enquiries is the most visited travel and transport website in Great Britain and our figures show that it is becoming even more popular since the re-launch at the end of last year.

“Our aim is to provide passengers with comprehensive, simple timetabling and fares information, helping them to get from A to B as quickly and easily as possible.

“This is another example of how money raised through the sale of tickets is being invested by train companies to improve services and provide a first class service for passengers.”