Well - there's more passenger journeys than Shippea Hill ...

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Mental Floss

This Train Station Is Kept Open for Just One Passenger

The remote Kami-Shirataki station^located in Engaru, Hokkaido, Japan^has been slowly losing riders. In fact, the demand was so low that even freight service was ended. Japan Railways planned to close the entire station for good^until they discovered the last consistent passenger: A single high schooler who continued to use the train to get to class every day.

[snip]

While this heart-warming story showcases Japan Railways' dedication to service, it is also a reminder of the decline of railways in rural Japan. The country is expected to lose a third of their population by 2060, meaning a shrinking workforce and an increase in empty housing. This, coupled with Japan's new efficient high-speed rails, spells the end of traditional railroads in the country. Hokkaido has seen the closing of 20 rail lines in the last few decades, Fortune reports, with another closing when the student graduates in March.

[TaplowGreen]

Mental Floss

This Train Station Is Kept Open for Just One Passenger

The remote Kami-Shirataki station^located in Engaru, Hokkaido, Japan^has been slowly losing riders. In fact, the demand was so low that even freight service was ended. Japan Railways planned to close the entire station for good^until they discovered the last consistent passenger: A single high schooler who continued to use the train to get to class every day.

[snip]



While this heart-warming story showcases Japan Railways' dedication to service, it is also a reminder of the decline of railways in rural Japan. The country is expected to lose a third of their population by 2060, meaning a shrinking workforce and an increase in empty housing. This, coupled with Japan's new efficient high-speed rails, spells the end of traditional railroads in the country. Hokkaido has seen the closing of 20 rail lines in the last few decades, Fortune reports, with another closing when the student graduates in March.

...............today Kami-Shirataki........tomorrow Melksham? 

[grahame]

...............today Kami-Shirataki........tomorrow Melksham? 

Doubt it these days! 

Looking for an example of a program to write to try out the new Perl 6 language that was officially released over Christmas, I write a script which told me:

There are 2538 stations listed
There were 388 smaller than Melksham in 2014
There were 597 smaller than Melksham in 2015

So I think we're relatively safe at the moment.   

Perl script at http://www.wellho.net/resources/ex.php?item=p600/position.pl6

<advert> If you would know Perl already, I would be happy to run a Perl 6 conversion course for you ... if you're new to Perl, we can do "learning to program in Perl" for Perl 5 or Perl 6, but not both on the same course because they're too different ... and if you've never programmed before we can do "Learning to program in Perl"</advert>

[grahame]

There are 2538 stations listed
There were 388 smaller than Melksham in 2014
There were 597 smaller than Melksham in 2015

Came across this old thread when reading today's old news from Japan
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/railway-company-plans-close-station-13628010#comments-section

Updated and reran the script

There were 639 smaller than Melksham in 2016
There were 719 smaller than Melksham in 2017

and looked back

There were 256 smaller than Melksham in 2012
There were 267 smaller than Melksham in 2013

[grahame]

The story has surfaced again:
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=654589485664931&set=gm.3248224528742495

A Japan Railway wanted to close the remote station in Hokkaido because there were hardly any passenger using it, but was kept open when they learned that a teenage girl uses it as her only way to commute to school.Every day, only two train stop at the station with a unique timetable, depending on when the girl needs to go to school and back.

When she graduated three years later, the railway station was finally closed.

Greatest gesture ever done , showing the importance of education, and one great example of humanity

A lovely story ... don't know how much is true and how much is urban myth, but it sure as heck contrasts to the UK^▸ (United Kingdom).   In Japan, it was kept for one user.  In Wiltshire, a busy service is withdrawn when over six thousand people ask for it to continue.