Railway passenger figures hit a million through Telford

The Office of Rail Regulation has calculated the number of people entering and exiting stations across the country.

The total number of passengers passing through Telford & Wrekin's five train stations – Oakengates, Telford Central, Wellington, Cosford and Albrighton – rose by more than four per cent, from 1,844,634 to 1,932,644 between 2011 and 2012.

Telford Central saw 1,032,584 passengers and was one of four stations in the borough to see a rise. The only station where passenger numbers fell was Cosford, which closed for six months from October 2011 for a £2.1million refit.

As a result passenger numbers dropped from 85,072 in 2010-11, to 61,378 in 2011-12.

The biggest rise in the county was recorded at Albrighton.

The station saw a 32 per cent growth in its passenger numbers. It had more than 25,000 extra passengers in 2011/12 compared to the year before, up from 79,232 to 104,806 journeys.

The ORR said the rise was due to improved demand in the area covered by Centro, which runs bus, rail and metro services in the West Midlands. Russell Griffin, a spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "Telford & Wrekin Council have welcomed news that passenger numbers on trains has passed through the million mark for the first time."

The Telford figures come hot on the heels of statistics released last month which showed that 1.7 million people travelled through Shrewsbury's railway station in the same period, a rise of 2.7 per cent compared to the previous year.

The increase in rail travellers is reflected across the country, with the ORR also publishing a list of the ten busiest stations. Waterloo in London had the most passenger numbers, with more than 94 million passing through its doors – 2.5 per cent up on the 2010/11 figure.

Next busiest in 2011/12 was Victoria in London with a 3.6 per cent rise to more than 76 million passengers. Liverpool Street in London rose 2.4 per cent to more than 57 million to be in third place, with London Bridge – up two per cent to more than 52 million – in fourth.

Birmingham New Street, with more than 31 million passengers, was in eighth place.

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