Nottinghamshire home to least-used railway station in UK

A Nottingham railway station has been named as the most sparsely used in the UK, according to government statistics.

Elton and Orston in Nottinghamshire was the least-used open station in the latest year, with 40 recorded entries and exits. It had the second lowest usage two years ago (April 2019 to March 2020) when it had 68 entries and exits.

At the other end of the scale, Nottingham was the most popular railway station in the region, with just over 5.2m entries and exits, followed by Leicester (3.58m) and Derby (2.95m).

Next come Northampton (1.86m), Lincoln (1.5m) and Chesterfield (1.2m).

Looking at the national picture, after a 16-year reign, London Waterloo was knocked off the top by Stratford (London) last year (April 2020 to March 2021), but it finds itself back in pole position following 41.4m passenger entries and exits in the latest year (April 2021 and March 2022). However, that total is some way short of the estimate of 86.9m from two years ago.

London Victoria retained its position as the second most used station with 36.8m entries and exits, while London Bridge stayed in third spot with 33.3m. Stratford (London) dropped down to fifth with 28.2m, although that is more than double last year’s estimate.

There are eight stations that serve the capital in the top 10, and are joined by Birmingham New Street which remained in eighth place (22.7m) and Manchester Piccadilly, which moved up from last year’s 18th to this year’s 10th (19.6m).

Feras Alshaker, director of planning and performance at the Office of Rail and Road said: “It is heartening to see passengers return to travelling by rail following what was a difficult period for the industry during the pandemic. There’s still some way to go in order for station usage figures to return to pre-pandemic levels.

“Once again it is important to thank all those in the rail industry, who continue to work hard to help people travel safely and with confidence.”