Estimates of Station Usage, 2018-2019 - publication date 14.1.2020

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Office of Rail and Road

Publication dates for statistics
 
This timetable lists the publication dates for all of ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)'s Official Statistics. These include annual and quarterly statistical releases, factsheets and data tables. These dates are determined by availability of the data and are the earliest possible dates which we can publish the information.We publish all our statistics at the standard time of 9.30am.

January 2020   Official Statistics   Estimates of Station Usage   Annual (2018-19)    14/01/2020

That's a month later than the usual early December ... "December but date to be confirmed" was what the page said last time I looked.  Are the figures taking even longer to correlate this year, or can they not be released during an election campaign or when there's n parliament to sign off or discuss them?

[CyclingSid]

It is probably due to "Purdah" https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/election-guidance-for-civil-servants. No change for 2019 General Election, according NHS Providers https://nhsproviders.org/media/688709/nhs-providers-pre-election-period-briefing-general-election-2019.pdf.

And probably more than that I shouldn't say.

[stuving]

It is probably due to "Purdah" https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/election-guidance-for-civil-servants.

What that advice says is:

5. Regular pre-announced statistical releases (e.g. press notices, bulletins, publications or electronic releases) will continue to be issued and published. Any other ad hoc statistical releases should be released only in exceptional circumstances and with the approval of the National Statistician, consulting with the Propriety and Ethics Team in the Cabinet Office where appropriate. Where a pre-announcement has specified that the information would be released during a specified period (e.g. a week, or longer time period), but did not specify a precise day, releases should not be published within the election period.

That's muddled, but suggests that anything regular like these annual passenger number should be released as usual. Unless - is there any reason to think they could be contentious between parties?

The second bit about ad-hoc statistics is rather odd - why should a prior promise for release specifying a day be so different from one for week?

[grahame]

I wrote to ask -

For any further information, please contact the statistics Head of Profession, Lyndsey Melbourne at rail.stats@orr.gov.uk or on 0207 282 3978.

but it seems that the mailbox isn't really that person, but rather a central mailbox:

Thank you for your e-mail, we will respond to your query within 10 working days.
 
Please note: This inbox is monitored intermittently throughout standard working hours. For urgent media enquires or other non-statistics related enquiries see contact details at: http://orr.gov.uk/contact-us.

etc

One day gone ... up to 9 to go.  Will let members know of any response I get, and make a diary note for 21st to perhaps follow up if I have not heard.

[grahame]

It is probably due to "Purdah" ....

And probably more than that I shouldn't say.

I dropped the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) a line to ask ... (and telling them how much I look forward to the figures and making use of them).  Turns out no to be purdah after all - nice reply this morning.

We strive to publish our statistics at the earliest possible dates. When firming up these dates for publication we need to consider the availability of underlying data and allow sufficient time to quality assure the statistics. Up until recently we planned to publish the 2018-19 station usage estimates in December, as we have done so in recent years. However, after reviewing progress to date in collating and quality assuring the underlying dataset, and determining what further work is needed, we have set a publication date of 14 January 2020. I appreciate this is disappointing for you and others who value these statistics and eagerly await their publication.
 
Thank you for your interest and the positive feedback on our estimates of station usage. Whist these are our most popular statistics (in terms of ‘web hits’ at least) and we do receive a lot of interest in our estimates, any feedback on any of our statistics publications is always very welcome.

[Western Pathfinder]

The figures have been released,looks like a small drop in passenger numbers at Pilning ,however these are only estimates,and don't take into account Rover tickets even when issued at Pilning.

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1668/estimates-of-station-usage-2018-19-key-facts.pdf


Edit to add the above link.

[Bob_Blakey]

Digby & Sowton entries & exits have (apparently) gone up from 630,560 (17/18) to 666,324 (18/19), an increase of 35,764 or 5.67%.

I wonder what the real metrics would be if proper usage measurement was implemented.

[lympstone_commuter]

I have updated my maps based on the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) daya to include the 2019 figures, and trends for the full period 1998 - 2019, and the 5-year period 2015 - 2019:

http://empslocal.ex.ac.uk/people/staff/tej202/stations.htm

[grahame]

I have just got the data too (been out at a station briefing) and of course (!) taken a look at Melksham, where the figures are more or less as I guessed they would be.    Reports, etc, to follow.

EDIT to add - my base data now at http://www.wellho.net/data/rstats2019.csv

[grahame]

I have just got the data too (been out at a station briefing) and of course (!) taken a look at Melksham, where the figures are more or less as I guessed they would be.    Reports, etc, to follow.

EDIT to add - my base data now at http://www.wellho.net/data/rstats2019.csv

And data now in our station comparator and graphs such as

[0lg4]

The figures have been released,looks like a small drop in passenger numbers at Pilning ,however these are only estimates,and don't take into account Rover tickets even when issued at Pilning.

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1668/estimates-of-station-usage-2018-19-key-facts.pdf


Edit to add the above link.

Here is the latest press release from Pilning Station Group concerning 2018-19 station usage numbers
https://drive.google.com/open?id=108GJDN7-VS9EG71XqLYj3JuoiVg5Fmjm

[RailCornwall]

Have a look in Plymouth and Cornwall for a quick analysis of the Far West figures.

[grahame]

The figures have been released,looks like a small drop in passenger numbers at Pilning ,however these are only estimates,and don't take into account Rover tickets even when issued at Pilning.

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1668/estimates-of-station-usage-2018-19-key-facts.pdf


Edit to add the above link.

Here is the latest press release from Pilning Station Group concerning 2018-19 station usage numbers
https://drive.google.com/open?id=108GJDN7-VS9EG71XqLYj3JuoiVg5Fmjm

Many thanks for sharing that.  Good see your hard work maintaining the numbers and the visibility of Pilning station. It remains a resource waiting to be reborn.  I read of the lowest living costs (mortgage + fares) actually being in Newport for the Bristol area, I look at all the employment at Aztec West and near to Piining, and I see all (?) of the 165 and 166 turbos advertising The Wave nearest station - err - Pilning and I shake my head in disbelief.

TV this evening, James Freeman, MD of First Bus Bristol and Bath showing how shockingly inadequate the MetroBus is for his passengers in the peaks due to traffic conditions on the road, and Tim Bowles admitting he's part of the problem as he's stuck in the same jam (sound like he's using his car, presumably because the public transport doesn't  work for him).  He states that Metrobus is a success because of the very high numbers of people using it (stuck on it?) but perhaps that's because those people are not offered any alternative.

Perhaps I've changed my mind on SEWWEB.  Don't want a service every 30 minute with hourly call at smaller stations. Want a service every 20 minutes calling at all stations.  Truley a metro service;  6 an hour from Parkway to Newport, with an express from London 3 minutes before the metro.   Spine service - at "turn up and go" fast, electric (please, even through the tunnel) and welcoming - then you can start rebalancing the modes of transport people use to something more like the London, Manchester or Newcastle model.

[johnneyw]

Perhaps I've changed my mind on SEWWEB.  Don't want a service every 30 minute with hourly call at smaller stations. Want a service every 20 minutes calling at all stations.  Truley a metro service;  6 an hour from Parkway to Newport, with an express from London 3 minutes before the metro.   Spine service - at "turn up and go" fast, electric (please, even through the tunnel) and welcoming - then you can start rebalancing the modes of transport people use to something more like the London, Manchester or Newcastle model.

Perhaps an amalgamation of SEEWEB and Metrowest is where their futures works best. The overlaps geographically and economically are significant here.




Edit to correct spelling.

[grahame]

Perhaps an amalgamation of SEEWEB and Metrowest is where their futures works best. The overlaps geographically and economically are significant here.

They should be very closely linked indeed - of course.  All part of the same solution?