Stations with surprisingly high passenger use

[Malderon]

Barnham? Obviously because its used as a parkway for surrounding area and changing trains between Bognor (and Littlehampton if you want to use Arun Valley as most Lhampton-London trains go via Hove I think) but the vital stats are according to Wikipedia 1,372 (4,479 including West Barnham). Annual Passenger use approximately 900,000.

 

[D1009]

The average number of journeys per person (counting double as in the station usage statistics) is about 40..... so a 10,000 population town should have a footfall of 400,000.... however outside the London commuter belt it's very rare to see figures in this area.

Ah, lies, damned lies and statistics !

 

[steamybrian]

Lets look at Eridge on the Uckfield line
The small village about a mile from the station has a population of....... very few (maybe hundred?!.
The passenger numbers receipts are now exceeding quarter of a million pounds and rising rapidly.
The car park on Mondays to Fridays is full by 0900, the surrounding roads around the station are full of parked cars by 1000.
Reason the fares on the Uckfield line are cheaper than the nearby Hastings line. It is cheaper (and easier to park early morning) for someone from example Tunbridge Wells to drive to Eridge and travel by train to London from there.
Warning if you are visiting the Spa Valley Railway by car on a Monday- Friday when they are operating to Eridge be warned that parking at or near Eridge station after 1000 is very difficult.....
Finally there are other stations nearby that serve thinly populated areas but are a "parkway" railhead for surrounding outlying villages.

 

[philjo]

What are the usage figures for St Bees?
I suspect that there are more passengers arriving there than departing.
The Coast to Coast walk officially starts there so people generally travel to St Bees then walk to Robin Hoods Bay (if doing it all in one go) & get the train home from Whitby or Scarborough 2 weeks later. I know several people who have done this.

Similarly, the Pennine Way starts at Edale.

 

[Ivo]

Since they changed the counting methods and so many stations have "identical" (wrong!) values it's hard to tell from the modern data. Going back to 07/08 though, there are roughly 10 exits for every 9 entires - ~20K against ~18K. Not especially high numbers in truth, so the Path appears to have little impact.

 

[mister-sparky]

Having had a quick look at the ORR passenger figures I would say Balham and Earlsfield are surprisingly busy. Neither is a major interchange in London but both have higher passenger numbers than Coventry, the 11th, 12th or 13th largest city in the UK (depending on where you look).

balham is an interchange with the northern line of the tube so its high usage makes perfect sense. and earlsfield is a very popular commuter area and only about 10-15mins from waterloo. so neithers figures are a surprise at all.

 

[transmanche]

Not to mention its economic importance; it has thousands of commuters to London every day but also serves as the most important setlement in the main corridor for the country's massive and massively exapnding technological economy. Something tells me the bit that says "the biggest town in England" won't be true for much longer though - we can reasonably expect Reading to be bound for City Status three months from now.

There's also a significant commuter flow out from London to Reading.

 

[noblergt]

I always thought Winchester had a surprising amount of people, 4 million journeys with a population of 40,000, especially considering it only has 2 platforms! The only other busier stations with 2 platforms are Bath Spa (population 80,000), City Thameslink and Chelmsford (150,000). Winchester doesn't serve any interchanges really, its all London commuter driven I guess.

 

[Lrd]

I always thought Winchester had a surprising amount of people, 4 million journeys with a population of 40,000, especially considering it only has 2 platforms! The only other busier stations with 2 platforms are Bath Spa (population 80,000), City Thameslink and Chelmsford (150,000). Winchester doesn't serve any interchanges really, its all London commuter driven I guess.

A lot of people to/from Southampton as well. Can also change their for Portsmouth/Southampton services. (Extra services from Basingstoke/Winchester to Southampton in the late afternoons)

 

[abutcher1985]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned audley end... Not even in saffron Walden which itself only has a population of just 15k, the station receives almost a million passengers per year.

 

[Chapeltom]

What are the usage figures for St Bees?
I suspect that there are more passengers arriving there than departing.
The Coast to Coast walk officially starts there so people generally travel to St Bees then walk to Robin Hoods Bay (if doing it all in one go) & get the train home from Whitby or Scarborough 2 weeks later. I know several people who have done this.

Similarly, the Pennine Way starts at Edale.

Two weeks for Coast to Coast me and my Dad did in 10 days. When we used St Bees, we were of a few using it but the others were commuters. We got a train around 4:30 ish out of Carlisle.

Edale's usage would be explained by the fact its a tiny village but walkers visit it every year round, St Bees is not somewhere I'd go for a day walk!

I live about 6 miles from Edale so I'm fairly local, not that I ever use the station for walking, I walk there and back

 

[merlodlliw]

In Shropshire we have Cosford (though it's currently closed as NR are finding it difficult to erect platforms, those tricky things...) which although a small village, has the military base, the RAF museum and also a car park which people drive to from quite far around to then continue their journey into the West Midlands/London.

Then there's Gobowen, which is a village but its station is "for Oswestry" a town of 30,000 nearby.

And I'll throw in Church Stretton: population of 3,000 but station usage of around 120,000 a year. As Wikipedia puts it:

With all due respect, Oswestry 30K? population.

 

[Unixman]

With all due respect, Oswestry 30K? population.

Prob now about 18K for the town itself. However it's hinterland would push it much higher.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

balham is an interchange with the northern line of the tube so its high usage makes perfect sense. and earlsfield is a very popular commuter area and only about 10-15mins from waterloo. so neithers figures are a surprise at all.

Earlsfield used to be pretty quiet - but a combination of 14 tph and slightly more affordable housing (compared to Wimbledon)and general gentrification - has really pushed patronage up.

 

[mister-sparky]

A lot of people to/from Southampton as well. Can also change their for Portsmouth/Southampton services. (Extra services from Basingstoke/Winchester to Southampton in the late afternoons)

and its a railhead for the surrounding area

 

[Proud Salopian]

With all due respect, Oswestry 30K? population.

Sorry, you're right - more like 20,000.