Why does only one train per hour call at Blackrod?

[Rail Bus]

Why does Blackrod have only 1 train per hour, when usage is nearly 600k pa, comparable with nearby Chorley and Horwich Parkway that receive 3 trains per hour and much more than Lostock which receives 2 trains per hour?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Are usage figures artificially inflated by it being the first (or last) station within Greater Manchester?

 

[thealexweb]

Are usage figures artificially inflated by it being the first (or last) station within Greater Manchester?

People split ticketing is this manner have to use services that call at Blackrod for this to be valid no? And at the same time Blackrod's figures are artificially lower by people buying tickets to / from Adlington instead to opt out of evening peak restrictions.

 

[yorkie]

Are usage figures artificially inflated by it being the first (or last) station within Greater Manchester?

Very true; these counts include journeys made by people who never use the station and simply pass through without necessarily even calling there.

 

[A Challenge]

Is it because with a GM rover the train doesn't have to stop at Blackrod but it is the cheapest way?

 

[Geeves]

It used to be the case for the split ticket to be valid the train had to stop but this is no longer the case since the rules were changed. Every person using a concessionary pass on that line will have a ticket starting at Blackrod, likewise with the GM county card or train card, lots of people have an extra monthly ticket starting at Blackrod to get to Chorley or Buckshaw as its cheaper.

 

[Rail Bus]

Are usage figures artificially inflated by it being the first (or last) station within Greater Manchester?

I don't see such distortions at other first/last GM stations though? Glazebrook, Patricroft, Orrell, Strines, Hale etc

 

[gnolife]

I don't see such distortions at other first/last GM stations though? Glazebrook, Patricroft, Orrell, Strines, Hale etc

The difference in costs a hell of a lot less at Patricroft relative to Newton le Willows, usage at Hale is low as a lot of people walk to Altrincham and take the Metrolink instead, and New Mills is in the GM area for season tickets, so there won't be any inflation at Strines or Middlewood. I don't know about the rest of them

 

[Rail Bus]

The difference in costs a hell of a lot less at Patricroft relative to Newton le Willows, usage at Hale is low as a lot of people walk to Altrincham and take the Metrolink instead, and New Mills is in the GM area for season tickets, so there won't be any inflation at Strines or Middlewood. I don't know about the rest of them

Not sure the relevance of what you say about Hale if the distortion at Blackrod is due to split tickiting?

Also Blackrod's usage figure is more than both New Mill stations combined, and from next year they'll be getting 4tph (inc 2 terminators!!!)

 

[pemma]

I don't see such distortions at other first/last GM stations though? Glazebrook, Patricroft, Orrell, Strines, Hale etc

From my observations Hale's usage is slightly higher than Greenbank's usage.

The official figures give:
Hale - 179,812
Greenbank - 209,350

However, given a considerable number of passengers board at Hale and then alight at Altrincham and Hale has a P/T ticket office with no TVM and there are rarely ticket checks between those two stations, I imagine Hale's actual figure is a lot higher than the 179,812 given. I imagine some of those who alight at Altrincham without a ticket do in fact buy a System One or Wayfarer ticket, which is valid for their whole journey but doesn't get recorded as being sold at Hale.

With the indirect route of the Mid-Cheshire line in to Manchester, it means for some journeys where splitting at Hale would save money compared to a through ticket, using the train wouldn't be a sensible option e.g. Knutsford to Manchester Airport.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It used to be the case for the split ticket to be valid the train had to stop

Not when it came to the combination of a GMPTE TrainCard/CountyCard with a regular season, as one was a season and the other not (where a PTE season did not constitute a season).

At one point Chorley booking office had an unofficial notice up recommending this combination. I would think therefore its use by Chorley passengers is quite possibly very significant.

 

[WatcherZero]

You see the same jump at Appley Bridge, at a quarter of a million it is more than twice the usage of stations either side which have similar catchments.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You see the same jump at Appley Bridge, at a quarter of a million it is more than twice the usage of stations either side which have similar catchments.

I believe doing the local season ticket plus Traincard/CountyCard combination is very common there, too.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

You see the same jump at Appley Bridge, at a quarter of a million it is more than twice the usage of stations either side which have similar catchments.

I suppose that Bromley Cross is another case in example. My wife's elderly friends who reside in Gatley tend to book from Bromley Cross to Clitheroe and use their TfGM issued ENCTS passes for the Gatley to Bromley Cross part of the journey.

 

[Starmill]

It's probably worth noting that Appley Bridge has 2tph. I have always thought it strange that Gathurst has just 1tph while Appley Bridge has 2, and downright crazy that Meols Cop only has 1. However, if the more frequent service is a cause of the higher official passenger counts, or a consequence of them, who can say.

Concessionary passes, season tickets and splitting CDRs will have an effect, certainly, but Blackrod appears to be a particularly extreme example of this. There are very few stations with an off-peak hourly frequency of just 1 train an hour which top half a million passengers a year in the official figures. The only others I know of are Stroud (large catchment, many direct London trains?), Hedge End (??), Downham Market (??), Liss (??), Hartlepool (bonus from Grand Central) and Knutsford (largeish, wealthy town - seriously underserved by both bus and train).

If the official figures were to be believed, Blackrod would see higher annual patronage than:

-Stourbridge Town
-Westbury
-Earlestown
-Penzance
-Dunblane
-Wrexham General
-Port Glasgow
-Chorleywood
-Moreton (Merseyside)
-Wakefield Kirkgate
-Aston
-Berwick-upon-Tweed
-Poulton-le-Fylde
-Oxenholme
-Altrincham

This seems... extremely unlikely, given the frequent service and prime location enjoyed by some of these stations. Blackrod lacks both.

Incidentally I am very surprised to see Berwick-upon-Tweed on the list. For a location with so many IC services but negligible on-rail interchange potential, demand is astonishingly low at 530k.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's probably worth noting that Appley Bridge has 2tph. I have always thought it strange that Gathurst has just 1tph while Appley Bridge has 2

Why? Gathurst station is basically in the middle of nowhere. Quite similar to Strines in a way.

 

[pemma]

Knutsford (largeish, wealthy town - seriously underserved by both bus and train).

The lack of decent bus services (with the exception of the town circular and the Mon-Sat daytime service to Wilmslow) probably helps contribute to Knutsford's high usage.

You could say Knutsford station benefits from the social divide. Those in the Shaw Heath and Longridge area can either get a bus or walk to the station. Those in villages around Knutsford can afford to get a taxi between the station and their house, or in the case of teenage children the parents both have cars and friends of the family can drive so there's probably no issue picking up or dropping off children at a station a few miles from their house.

 

[Starmill]

Why? Gathurst station is basically in the middle of nowhere. Quite similar to Strines in a way.

It's very close to Shevington, which is bigger than Appley Bridge. I don't know if you've ever seen the 1710 from Manchester Victoria but Gathurst is the station where it actually has free seats after, loads of people use it.

However, the point I was making was that it's strange that Appley Bridge has so many trains, not that Gathurst has so relatively few. Especially given so many trains call at Appley Bridge and then skip Meols Cop, which I would say has far greater growth potential.

Anyway, both Gathurst and Appley Bridge are set for their half hourly service all day from next year.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I would agree Meols Cop should be served by all trains, though it's quite close to Southport.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

I would agree Meols Cop should be served by all trains, though it's quite close to Southport.

It's so close to Southport as to have little value for local journeys and I very much doubt that doubling the frequency would change that. The fact that Merseytravel seem happy for it to remain entirely devoid of any ticketing outlet does somewhat support that view. Meols Cop is however a reasonably busy commuter station heading east: IME far more board there for Manchester than at Southport itself.

As for Blackrod the other comments about split ticketing are spot on. The actual numbers boarding/alighting there are very much lower than Horwich Parkway though of course some users of the latter might, prior to its opening, have used Blackrod.