Station usage figures

[whole diary]

[swlines]

I've had rough figures for a while but now the official ones are out, here are the bottom 20 stations in terms of entry/exit usage in 2006-2007.

(from bottom to top)

Tyndrum Lower
Buckenham
Coombe Halt
Golf Street
Barry Links
Denton
Sugar Loaf
Breich
Dorking West
Thorne South
Tees-side Airport
Lakenheath
Chapelton
Reddish South
Scotscalder
Elton & Orston
Falls of Cruachan
Pilning
Kirton Lindsey
Dorchester West

and now top 20 (from 20th to 1st):

Glasgow Queen Street
Reading
Manchester Piccadilly
Birmingham New Street
London Fenchurch Street
Edinburgh Waverley
Wimbledon
Leeds
Clapham Junction
East Croydon
Glasgow Central
London Cannon Street
London Kings Cross
London Euston
London Paddington
London Charing Cross
London Bridge
London Liverpool Street
London Victoria
London Waterloo

Melksham comes ... 2024th in terms of usage.

[devon_metro]

Of note, Pilning saw a rise in passenger usage!

[swlines]

As did Gainsborough Central which now sits at 1913rd!

Oh, and I'm proud to say half those entries at Barry Links are me!!! 

The new joke station I think is going to have to be Buckenham...

[Lee]

Melksham comes ... 2024th in terms of usage.

Only a small drop in usage at Melksham, from 24,426 to 22,201. However, the figures are from April 2006-April 2007, so the full effect of the December 2006 timetable slashing wont be apparent.

Take Doleham, Three Oaks and Winchelsea for example. They had their service slashed in December 2005 as part of the creation of the Ashford-Brighton service. Only small changes in usage were registered in the April 2005-April 2006 figures, but they have taken an absolute hammering in the April 2006-April 2007 figures.......

[grahame]

Melksham comes ... 2024th in terms of usage.

Yes - the figures are down, and in line with a Swindon to Southampton service that grew rapidly for the first 8 months and was then executed.

[Karl]

Afternoon

Its a shame that Doleham and Three Oaks station's
arn't used more.  They are both very qauint and on
a good day its nice to sit out in these two country
stations to wait for the train.

In 2005 when a friend and I went chasing after a
non-exsisting Hastings DEMU^▸ (Diesel Electric Multiple Unit) (1001), which fills
in for "Southern" when there short, I think if my
memory serves me correct, the residents of Doleham
had a large poster campaign to stop it from closing
altogether.  Again if memory serves me correct the
service was due to be down to about two stops per
day each way and that was under threat.  Not sure
how there campaign has devoleped since, as I haven't
been back there since?

Regards

Karl.   

Take Doleham, Three Oaks and Winchelsea for example.
They had their service slashed in December 2005 as
part of the creation of the Ashford-Brighton service.
Only small changes in usage were registered in the
April 2005-April 2006 figures, but they have taken
an absolute hammering in the April 2006-April 2007
figures.......

[Andy]

Can I ask what the deal is with the St Ives branch? The figures shouw a huge drop but the "fail" suggests that there was some change in counting methods. Can anyone shed any light on what happened?

Thanks
 

[RichardB]

You're looking at this, I take it, http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1529

The issue on the St Ives Bay Line is that anyone just making a journey on the line buys a St Ives Bay Line Ranger, which doesn't show up as a point to point ticket, so doesn't count in the station totals.  If you look at the Lelant Saltings' figures, you will see what I mean. 

[Andy]

Thanks, Richard, for clearing that up. Your answer begs another question - are there stats on line patronage/usage which do take into account all the other forms of "ticket"?

 

[swlines]

No.

Well there is, but I don't believe it's available to the general public...

[Andy]

Thanks SW lines. I'm now left wondering what the point/use of these stats is.

[John R]

Melksham comes ... 2024th in terms of usage.

Only a small drop in usage at Melksham, from 24,426 to 22,201. However, the figures are from April 2006-April 2007, so the full effect of the December 2006 timetable slashing wont be apparent.

Take Doleham, Three Oaks and Winchelsea for example. They had their service slashed in December 2005 as part of the creation of the Ashford-Brighton service. Only small changes in usage were registered in the April 2005-April 2006 figures, but they have taken an absolute hammering in the April 2006-April 2007 figures.......

But I think the position at Melksham is complicated by those that buy tickets from Melksham but may use alternative stations? Suppose this accounts for half of the 05/06 figures, that leaves 12,000 (in round numbers) "genuine" passengers. ie 1,000 a month. In the 06/07 year, the 9 months to Dec would see 9,000 passengers, leaving 1,000 for the remaining 3 months. ie a fall from 1000 to 300 with the timetable change. If you assume that the 06/07 would have seen a modest 5% rise until the change, that would amount to around 9500 passengers until December, with only 500 a month thereafter.

Unfortunately the true position will probably never be known due to the first point.   
 

[Lee]

Got some figures from an FOSBR^▸ (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways) member for Severn Beach Line stations with percentage rise/falls. Selected other Bristol suburban stations are also included :

Lawrence Hill 55865 --> 68371 = +22.4%
Stapleton Road 86997 --> 98446 = +13.2%
Montpelier 73573 --> 76969 = +4.6%
Redland 55529 --> 66852 = +20.4%
Clifton Down 153027 --> 180656 = +18.1%
Sea Mills 36411 --> 40786 = +12.0%
Shirehampton 31539 --> 38493 = +22.0%
Avonmouth 43365 --> 47834 = +10.3%
St Andrews Road 8008 --> 5518 = -31.1%
Severn Beach 37088 --> 38202 = +3.0%

Bedminster 40917 --> 43379 = +6.0%
Parson Street 14293 --> 19172 = +34.1%
Patchway 33957 --> 42463 = +25.0%
Filton Abbey Wood 401325 --> 410630 = +2.3%

Personally, I am rather sceptical on St Andrews Road. For a number of years, the figure was stable between 3000-5000. Then in the April 2005-April 2006 figures it leapt up to 8008. The 2006-2007 figures show this falling back to 5518, closer to the historical figure, with due allowance for realistic growth.

A further complication, obviously, is that a combined rail/bus service was in place throughout.

[Shazz]

Nice to see my local station (cam) went up another 20k this year!

[Lee]

You're looking at this, I take it, http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1529

The issue on the St Ives Bay Line is that anyone just making a journey on the line buys a St Ives Bay Line Ranger, which doesn't show up as a point to point ticket, so doesn't count in the station totals.  If you look at the Lelant Saltings' figures, you will see what I mean.

I assume that the Partnership conducts regular passenger counts. Could you possibly give us an idea of what they indicate regarding station footfall?