ORR publishes Station Usage Report for 2010-11

[John55]

As title for those waiting with baited breath!

http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1529

 

[tbtc]

I wonder who the ten people "Interchanging" at Altrincham were? Did they know the Thetford Four?

 

[pemma]

First two stations I've checked - Knutsford and Northwich have had 19% rises.

I think a spreadsheet formula is wrong for 20% as I've found rises of above 20% that haven't been triggered - Ashley for instance.

I wonder who the ten people "Interchanging" at Altrincham were?

Maybe a replacement bus service and a train. Can't be rail to Metrolink as that should be recorded as a National Rail exit and 10 would be grossly out.

 

[Schnellzug]

Written by Javier Morillo, I see, who I believe used to manage Barcelona.

 

[WatcherZero]

First two stations I've checked - Knutsford and Northwich have had 19% rises.

I think a spreadsheet formula is wrong for 20% as I've found rises of above 20% that haven't been triggered - Ashley for instance.

Maybe a replacement bus service and a train. Can't be rail to Metrolink as that should be recorded as a National Rail exit and 10 would be grossly out.

Its when its 20% standard deviation more or less than the average rise, so when its over 29.6% rise or under -13.6%.

NRE is suggesting to get to Manchester Airport you get off at Altrincham, take a tram to Deansgate then get a connection to the airport there. That could account for a apparent break of journey.

Im trying to think why theyve reported the strange rise in Wigan, Warrington and Manchester grouping as the origin for tickets. Possibly as theyve increased manual gating and revenue protection?

 

[wintonian]

Obviously no-one buys singles from or to Winchester and I see about 45% of our triffic is now season ticket holders with a total increase in station usage just over 200,000 or about a 5% increase.

I thought the SWML seemed to be getting busier still and I expect last years figures to continue that trend.

 

[Proud Salopian]

Every station in Shropshire is up.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I can't see ATM, could anyone run through the busiest and quietest? Cheers

 

[pemma]

Its when its 20% standard deviation more or less than the average rise, so when its over 29.6% rise or under -13.6%.

OK that makes sense.

Im trying to think why theyve reported the strange rise in Wigan, Warrington and Manchester grouping as the origin for tickets. Possibly as theyve increased manual gating and revenue protection?

Have they since the previous year though? The barriers at Oxford Road have been there for a few years now and G4S being a regular present at Piccadilly and Victoria and occasional presence at Deansgate is nothing new.

Has anything be done recently for Warrington Bank Quay? I know Central has had TPE inspections for a number of years but Bank Quay certainly didn't used to a few years ago.

 

[jopsuk]

Top ten on "Entries and Exits":

Waterloo
Victoria
Liverpool Street
London Bridge
Charing Cross
Euston
Paddington
King's Cross
Glasgow Central
Birmingham New Street

Quietist 10 on same measure, quietist first:
Tees-Side Airport
Dorking West
Coombe
Denton
Breich
Reddish South
Barry Links
Sampford Courtenay
Elton & Orston
Sugar Loaf

 

[Schnellzug]

I can't see ATM, could anyone run through the busiest and quietest? Cheers

Basically, it seems, if I can get through all the waffle, the top 10 is all in London, except Glas Cen which is #9 and Birmingham NS which is #10. Euston is up 13%, but Birm N.S. is down 2% Meanwhile, 2 people interchanged at Dorchester West and 2 at Fishguard Harbour in 2009/10, but none at all in 2010/11. :cry:
Which on the whole makes you wonder what these statistics actually mean.
Most of the rest of it seems to be mostly waffle.

 

[WatcherZero]

OK that makes sense.



Have they since the previous year though? The barriers at Oxford Road have been there for a few years now and G4S being a regular present at Piccadilly and Victoria and occasional presence at Deansgate is nothing new.

Has anything be done recently for Warrington Bank Quay? I know Central has had TPE inspections for a number of years but Bank Quay certainly didn't used to a few years ago.

Theyve only been gating Wigan continuously for the last 3 years or so, before that it was random checks the other possibility that came to mind was TVM's being set for grouping rather than physical location.

Lets see, the thing they have in common is they are all Northern groupings in the North West. Theres a note they previously underestimated West Yorkshire PTE tickets by 50% but as people rarely used PTE tickets in West Yorkshire the adjustment was negligible.

 

[charlee]

Plymouth rose to 2,401,082 from 2,278,718. Increase of 5.4%

Good increase pleased we are increasing year on year!

And we have a larger Passenger usage then Exeter St Davids !

 

[Greenback]

Which on the whole makes you wonder what these statistics actually mean.
Most of the rest of it seems to be mostly waffle.

I fail to see what the excitement is every time these figures come out. The data is not particularly accurate. My use of Gowerton is not recorded, as it is made using my season ticket between Swansea and Llanelli, which only accounts for a set number of entries and exits at those two stations.

 

[WatcherZero]

Basically, it seems, if I can get through all the waffle, the top 10 is all in London, except Glas Cen which is #9 and Birmingham NS which is #10. Euston is up 13%, but Birm N.S. is down 2% Meanwhile, 2 people interchanged at Dorchester West and 2 at Fishguard Harbour in 2009/10, but none at all in 2010/11. :cry:
Which on the whole makes you wonder what these statistics actually mean.
Most of the rest of it seems to be mostly waffle.

Man Pics up 7.25%, Leeds up 11%, Edinburghs only up 3.3% and Glasgow 3.2%.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Dorking West does my head in. It's not that quiet at all. I regularly work Redhill stoppers that stop there. On the 07:04 to Redhill and the 08:33 back (which I work very regularly) I will probably sell about 100 tickets a week from Dorking West.

It's not THAT quiet there. It's the way the numbers are distributed.

 

[Smethwickian]

Every station in Shropshire is up.

Including Hopton Heath by nearly 58 per cent!

 

[michael769]

I fail to see what the excitement is every time these figures come out. The data is not particularly accurate.

This data can influence calling patterns and even station closures - so in some cases it is inaccurate or not very significant to some people's journeys.

 

[jopsuk]

Whilst it can influence, I'd be pretty confident that decisions, such as closures, would involve more careful analysis, actual passenger counting etc. The powers that be know the limitations of the data.

 

[Greenback]

Whilst it can influence, I'd be pretty confident that decisions, such as closures, would involve more careful analysis, actual passenger counting etc. The powers that be know the limitations of the data.

Indeed. The figures can be an indication of trends, but little more.

 

[John55]

Whilst it can influence, I'd be pretty confident that decisions, such as closures, would involve more careful analysis, actual passenger counting etc. The powers that be know the limitations of the data.

I seem to remember it is not so long ago that the good people who commute into Bristol found their trains reduced in length by 30 - 50% overnight on franchise change because some dimwit in the SRA didn't realise how bad the industry data was and as a result lots of people were left behind. A similar cock up occurred on the Norwich- Liverpool route for the same reason.

Now thanks to the people who grind through this data every year it is getting better (the discrepency between these figures and passenger journeys in the National Rail Trends publication is down to 17%) but don't assume "TPTB" know

 

[paul1609]

Doleham. Southerns least used station saw increases of 630% ample justification for rail investment on the Marshlink line!

 

[Lampshade]

Salwick up by around 200 - that's probably because I started buying from Salwick whenever I travel anywhere from Preston

 

[pemma]

Indeed. The figures can be an indication of trends, but little more.

I think trends are the reason a lot of people are interested. If passenger numbers are up 20% it's a good time to push for more services, if passenger numbers are down 20% it'll be more a case of defending the current level of service.

 

[Ivo]

Salwick up by around 200 - that's probably because I started buying from Salwick whenever I travel anywhere from Preston

Maybe we should try this with Denton! Who knows - if enough of us do it...!

 

[wintonian]

Basically, it seems, if I can get through all the waffle, the top 10 is all in London, except Glas Cen which is #9 and Birmingham NS which is #10. Euston is up 13%, but Birm N.S. is down 2% Meanwhile, 2 people interchanged at Dorchester West and 2 at Fishguard Harbour in 2009/10, but none at all in 2010/11. :cry:
Which on the whole makes you wonder what these statistics actually mean.
Most of the rest of it seems to be mostly waffle.

Possibly correct, I don't think I interchanged at Dorchester West at all 2010/11.

 

[Schnellzug]

Possibly correct, I don't think I interchanged at Dorchester West at all 2010/11.

It's hard to see what that means exactly; does it mean changing from one train arriving at that station to another train departing from that station? Well, as the only thing you'd be likely to interchange between there would be to get off one train from Bristol and get straight back on another one going back, then it's hardly surprising. On the other hand, what it is used for is to interchange from trains from Bristol to trains towards Bournemouth from Dorchester South; but I suppose that wouldn't be recorded in the Statistics, which goes to show how many flaws there are in it, doesn't it.

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

Preston at 4.1, just as I predicted. (Now where'd I hear c5.3 million from?)
5 million for 11/12

 

[Greenback]

I think trends are the reason a lot of people are interested. If passenger numbers are up 20% it's a good time to push for more services, if passenger numbers are down 20% it'll be more a case of defending the current level of service.

Possibly, but if a station does have a rise of 20% over the preceding year, it is more likely to be down to a change in the way the data is collected, or an increase in services that has already happened (Falmouth Line?) or even the fact that a station has become a good splitting point that could account for such a rise.

Not that it does any harm to push for extra services, I'm all in favour of that, and if it helps the case in any way, then that's fine too!

 

[yorksrob]

Doleham. Southerns least used station saw increases of 630% ample justification for rail investment on the Marshlink line!

That does seem like a bizarre anomaly. Particularly since it now has a greater "usage" than Winchelsea and Three Oaks, both of which are better served and nearer to human habitation !