The major public transport groups have reacted bullishly to new growth figures, claiming they demonstrate that a fundamental change in favour of travelling by bus and rail has taken place.

Their comments came on the back of results statements and trading updates issued by four of the 'big five' UK public transport plcs over the past two weeks.

At the launch of Stagecoach's annual results, chairman Robert Spiers said the group had "benefited from a renaissance on the railway", while chief executive Brian Souter commented: "We believe there are growing signs of a fundamental positive shift in customer attitudes towards public transport, driven by increasing road congestion, rising fuel costs and concern about climate change."

In a presentation to City analysts, Souter echoed other senior industry figures including National Express chief executive Richard Bowker and Go Ahead chief executive Keith Ludeman in arguing that these new factors could enable transport groups to continue prospering during the current economic downturn.

In evidence, Souter pointed out that GDP and central London employment figures for the past year suggest that a decline in passenger volumes at the group's South West Trains franchise could have been expected. Instead patronage grew 5.7% in the year to May 2008 with revenue increasing over 14%. He told analysts that "the new environmental, cost, convenience and service quality advantages" rail enjoyed meant the outlook for the industry was far more favourable than during the recession of 1987-1992, when passenger volumes subsided.

The latest results and updates from Arriva, Go Ahead, National Express and Stagecoach show that SWT's strong performance this year was not an isolated case. Rail businesses continued to thrive - contrary to concerns expressed by some analysts this year about the potential impact of the economy.

Revenue increased 11.2% in 2007/08 at Stagecoach's Virgin West Coast operation on a like for like basis excluding the new Birmingham-Scotland services. At Go Ahead's Southeastern and Southern franchises, revenue has grown by 13% in the past year.

Updates from National Express and Arriva prior to their half-year results showed that National Express achieved 11% revenue growth on the East Coast and 6% at its East Anglia operation in the first five months of 2008, while Arriva recorded growth of 10% at Arriva Trains Wales and CrossCountry.

In addition to the factors highlighted by Souter, Go Ahead and National Express pointed to the improved quality of rail operations as a significant factor in achieving the current high growth levels and creating new markets for rail travel. "We believe that this growth reflects improvements in our rail operations resulting from sustained investment in better punctuality, frequency and service quality as well as the benefit from increased road congestion and higher fuel costs for motorists," Go Ahead commented.

National Express stated that its "focus on first-rate customer service, a key tool in attracting more people back to rail, is seeing positive results".

Deregulated bus businesses also saw strong revenue growth with all four groups reporting that the factors driving increases in rail travel were having a positive effect on bus patronage. Revenue at Go Ahead's companies grew 8.7%, at Stagecoach's UK bus division revenue increased 7.7%, and at NEG's core West Midlands business, it grew 6%.

The effect of rising fuel prices was played down with National Express and Go Ahead pointing out that fuel only represents 10% of their bus businesses' costs and suggesting that the more punitive effect of fuel rises on motoring was contributing to a shift to public transport. They added that the higher fuel costs at their bus companies would be recoverable through a combination of pricing and more efficient driving techniques.