Great Western Coffee Shop

These were published today and cover the period May 07 to May 08. The full list is on the ORR website, and as trailed last year they now split pax for stations in the same grouping more sensibly (eg Dorchester West now gets 66,000 pax instead of 172.

If this attaches, then here's a summary of the 1,2 and 3 year figures for stations in the west (but not south-west -apologies). Note that Rover tickets continue to be excluded, and I think some of the fall in numbers on the Severn Beach line may be due to introduction of the new zonal system, so Severn Beach and Clifton Down gain at the other stations' expense. Which is a general warning that you do need to consider local circumstances before drawing too many conclusions from unusual results.

But generally healthy gains across the region. Including Melksham, where obviously more people twigged that it was cheaper to buy a ticket from Melksham to Bristol than from Bradford on Avon. Surprises that Keynsham and Oldfield Park held up given the much publicised problems post the new timetable in early 07, which was not rectified until the summer of 07. Good growth at stations like Yate and Cam & Dursley, and bizarrely at Parson St, which I can't explain. And Nailsea & Backwell continues to do pretty well too....   

The report explaining how the figures are put together and issues related to them and the Excel spreadsheet (and those for previous years back to 2002-3) are at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1529 (http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1529)

The station comparator which is on the top link bar of these pages now includes the footfall data for 07/08 (I have not yet looked at connecting numbers) ... for example - for Westbury:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/smr/WSB.html

It's very interesting to see the traffic drop at  Dilton Marsh, where the Salisbury service was vandalised (sorry - can't think of a better word) like the Melksham service was.

You need to be logged in to see the data ... otherwise you just get a sample station ... a good reason to sign up if you're not a member yet!

Technical note - the figures on these pages are entrances + exits + changes for both years, on the basis that a change is a need for a train to stop (argueably changes should count twice as it's a get off plus a get on!).  I will come back to this data later if I get a chance - just wanted to get something up to help anyone who wishes compare areas or similar traffic stations across the country.

Could the rise in traffic at Parson St be attributed to the 'rise' of Bristol City FC ?

I can explain!  ;D

1. It's not that long ago that Parson St had one train a day in each direction, so numbers started from an extremely low base.
2. Gradually services have increased to the current level of hourly for most of the day, half hourly in peaks. The extension of trains past Temple Meads to Filton and Parkway has made a big difference too.
3. There's been no publicity about the improved services, so to begin with most of the new trains stopped without anyone getting on or off. It's taken time for word to spread round the workplaces in the Filton area that if you live in South Bristol you can cut out more than half your commuting time by using the train.
4. Since the Dec 2007 timetable change connections have improved, so Parson St is useful not just for travelling towards Weston, but also Bath, Filton, Cardiff and connecting in and out of London trains and XC services.
5. There is no bus service to Temple Meads from SW Bristol and more people are finding out about the train.
6. The inbound 75/76 bus stop was moved to outside the station a couple of years ago and people from Hartcliffe and Withywood have started changing to and from the train at Parson St.
7. The station looks welcoming nowadays. The entrance used to make it look bleak and scary, a few years back it was renovated with a shelter and vastly improved train information. And there are flowerbeds on the platforms.
8. In comparison with Bedminster, Parson St serves a much larger residential area (most of the houses in central Bedminster were demolished, some as slum clearance, others to make way for a road that was never built). But traditionally more trains have always stopped at Bedminster, which used to serve a lot of workplaces, although most of the factories are long since gone. These days, on the trains I use, there are usually more getting on and off at Parson St than Bedminster.

I doubt it's made a lot of difference, although I expect that passenger numbers have increased on matchdays, probably thanks to greater awareness of the train service as well as the rise in attendances. Now if they brought back the football specials that I remember seeing pulling in, as I crossed the bridge on my way to the ground a few decades ago, we could double our footfall overnight!  :D

There is a huge lesson in that post / that experience for those of us at sparsely served stations - with Bemmy's permission (thank you) I've crossposted to

http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7972.0

as my thoughts are very much on TransWilts / Campaigning experience on this one!

Pleased to see Paignton up by 50,000 despite the awful summer!

What happened at Dilton March? Were services axed?

Truro has reached and exceeded the 1million mark!