Most-used railway stations in Midlands revealed

Nottingham railway station

Nottingham is the third most-used railway station outside of London in the Midlands, according to new figures.

There were some 7,864,690 entries and exits from the station between April 2019 and March this year, according to new figures from Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

Topping the list was Birmingham New Street, with 46.5 million entries and exits, followed by Coventry (7,876,772), followed by Nottingham, then Birmingham Moor Street (7,273,548) and Birmingham International (6,519,612).

The least used station was Elton and Orston, in Nottinghamshire, with only 68 entries and exits recorded last year.

The numbers are revealed in ORR’s estimate of station usage statistics, which officially records the annual total of passenger entries and exits.

Birmingham New Street ranked as the fifth most used station in Britain despite a drop of more than 1.4 million passengers compared to last year.

Birmingham Moor Street saw its total increase by 73,000 but Coventry (331,142), Nottingham (140,248) and Birmingham International (455,390) all had a reduction in entries and exits.

Waterloo station topped the chart for the sixteenth consecutive year despite the decrease in numbers. The decline in usage across Great Britain can be partly attributed to the dramatic fall in passenger numbers towards the end March of this year following the impact of COVID-19.

Britain’s least used station was Berney Arms in Norfolk which recorded 42 entries and exits during the year. Last year’s least used stations Denton and Stanlow & Thornton increased from 46 to 92 and 82 respectively. There were six stations across Great Britain with fewer than 100 entries and exits.

Around Great Britain, Glasgow Central (32.5 million) remained the busiest station in Scotland but saw 331,886 fewer passengers, followed by Edinburgh Waverley (23.1 million). In Wales, Cardiff Central recorded 12.7 million entries and exits, a decrease of 2.0% compared to last year.

Jay Symonds, ORR senior statistical analyst, said: “Despite the dramatic decline in passenger numbers towards the end of March due to Covid-19, Birmingham New Street remains the busiest station outside of London.

“Nationally, Waterloo remains top but we saw a change in the least used station with Berney Arms taking the spot from Denton and Stanlow & Thornton.

“With numbers staying at historically low levels during 2020, there is no doubt that next year’s figures will look a lot different.”

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