Rural railway station one of least used as cities busy with passengers

And a rural station in the wilds of Powys is one of Britain’s least used.

The figures reveal that more than 22.6 million passed through Birmingham New Street, putting it just behind Euston, which is London’s link to the West Midlands, with 23 million. Manchester Piccadilly came in 10th at 19.5 million.

Those figures contrast with Sugar Loaf Station, south of Llandridnod Wells in Powys – it only recorded 76 passengers for the entire year.

The official figures, released today, show that London Waterloo has regained its status as Britain’s most frequently used railway station.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said the station was used by an estimated 41.4 million passengers in the 12 months to the end of March.

The total at Waterloo is up from 12.2 million during the previous Covid-affected year, but was below half the estimate of 86.9 million in 2019/20.

In Scotland, Glasgow Central remained the most used station, with 15.3 million passengers, up from 5.3 million last year but down from 32.5 million two years ago.

Cardiff Central kept its status as the busiest station in Wales, with 7.5 million entries and exits. That was more than three times as many as the two million in 2020/21, but remained down from the 12.7 million in 2019/20.

ORR director of planning and performance Feras Alshaker 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.”

The least used railway station in 2021/22 was Elton and Orston in rural Nottinghamshire, with 40 recorded entries and exits. It is served by two East Midlands Railway trains per day between Mondays and Saturdays.