Favourite books to read on train journeys revealed for World Book Day

With World Book Day coming up this month, on March 3, the rail industry is encouraging commuters to catch up on their reading while travelling by train.

New research reveals that over half of Brits spend over two hours a week reading, with crime and thrillers voted as the nation’s favourite genre of books to read on the train.

And two in five are keen to do more reading if time could be found.

Over half of UK adults still prefer to read a physical book to e-books or audiobooks, and two thirds of us find the train commute a great opportunity to indulge.

Reading is the most popular pastime for train travellers, and the top 10 books chosen by passengers for their journeys  are as follows;

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Lord of The Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare

Animal Farm by George Orwell and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Our obsession with crime fiction was confirmed by the research from the rail industry with ‘Crime and thrillers' voted the favourite fiction genre by 36 per cent, to read on train commutes.

The top five genres are;

Crime and Thriller (36 per cent)

Romance (21 per cent)

Action and Adventure (20 per cent)

Historical fiction (17 per cent)

Science Fiction (17 per cent)

Jacqueline Starr, CEO at the Rail Delivery Group, said: "As part of our 'Let's get back on track campaign', the rail industry is encouraging people to make the most of 'me time' on their train journey and take advantage of reading's psychological benefits for both wellbeing and brain function.

"To help people travel with confidence the railindustry is carrying out more frequent and thorough cleaning, ensuring carriages are well ventilated and making extra train carriages available where possible."

For anyone who would like to try writing their own novel or short story, the Rail Delivery Group has partnered with FutureLearn to give commuters access to free upgrades on courses worth up to £72.

One of these is ‘Start Writing Fiction’ - ideal for the 23 per cent of bookworms who feel inspired to try their hand at creative writing.

 For more information, visit www.nationalrail.co.uk/commuter