ORR Station usage figures April 2014 to March 2015

[whole diary]

[Adelante_CCT]

I'm assuming the numbers for Reading West are down by a lot as they don't actually know what the figure is based on all tickets being valid to/from Reading Stations

[Rapidash]

Looks like healthy increases across the main Devonian stations. I wouldn't be surprised if Exmouth hit's a million by 2020. Not bad for a single track branch reliant on Pacers!

It does at least confirm my observations that services are busier, even in the "quiet" times. Which is nice as I thought I may be going dippy doodah

[grahame]

Looks like healthy increases across the main Devonian stations.

Stats / graphs at http://www.wellho.net/demo/railuse.php?place=EX - replace the "EX" for other postcode areas.
"Station Comparator" at the top of all our pages also now updated

[SandTEngineer]

It would be interesting to see the dates when revenue protection was increased at each of the stations (provision of ticket barriers etc.) and if this is reflected in the growth (or in some cases decline) in the figures. E.g. Before Plymouth had ticket gates manned until late evening I'm sure there would have been a lot of ticketless travel Westwards

[ellendune]

51858          23930    2.167   MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains)   Melksham

Well done Trans Wilts CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership)

[Rapidash]

Looks like healthy increases across the main Devonian stations.

Stats / graphs at http://www.wellho.net/demo/railuse.php?place=EX - replace the "EX" for other postcode areas.
"Station Comparator" at the top of all our pages also now updated

The only real surprise I see there is Digby somehow losing 200k pax a year. I find that a bit odd, as it still seems a busy station when I go along there :/

[didcotdean]

Digby is mentioned in the methodological report - it has been readjusted downwards to take account of a special student ticket in reality used to Exeter Central and St Davids.

[grahame]

The only real surprise I see there is Digby somehow losing 200k pax a year. I find that a bit odd, as it still seems a busy station when I go along there :/

Are you sure the figures are "real" for passengers and don't just show a ticketing quirk?  I note a more-than-double a couple of years back and this looks like a 'correction' - perhaps lots of ticket splits.   We had such problems for a few years at Melksham - huge numbers of ticket sales from Melksham to Bristol as it was cheaper than Trowbridge to Bristol ... passenger figures prior to 2010 are wildly different to ticket sale figures which these reports give us.

Also to note - Rovers, BritRail passes, children under 5 don't show up in the stats

Ah ...

Digby is mentioned in the methodological report - it has been readjusted downwards to take account of a special student ticket in reality used to Exeter Central and St Davids.

Yes.   Reported as I typed, but my comments still add a bit

[grahame]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Report - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35105105

Revealed: Britain's busiest and quietest stations

Top 10 listed in many places.    Bottom 10:

Below are the top 10 quietest stations in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) from 2014-15, with 2013-14 figures in brackets (based on the total number of passenger exits and entries).
Shippea Hill, Cambridgeshire: 22 (12)
Coombe, Cornwall: 26 (42)
Teesside Airport, Darlington: 32 (
Reddish South, Greater Manchester: 54 (26)
Barry Links, Angus: 60 (40)
Pilning, South Gloucestershire: 68 (88)
Golf Street, Angus: 86 (90)
Elton & Orston, Nottinghamshire: 88 (166)
Buckenham, Norfolk: 88 (80)
Breich, West Lothian: 92 (64)

[John R]

51858          23930    2.167   MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains)   Melksham

Well done Trans Wilts CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership)

Just a caution on these figures. The 2013/4 figure included just 4 months of the enhanced service, whereas the 2014/5 includes a full 12 months' worth.  So the size of the increase isn't indicative of an increasing trend necessarily. 

[grahame]

Just a caution on these figures. The 2013/4 figure included just 4 months of the enhanced service, whereas the 2014/5 includes a full 12 months' worth.  So the size of the increase isn't indicative of an increasing trend necessarily. 

Here's a bit of a breakdown showing how the figures are likely to have come about

to March 2013
1000 ticket journeys per month for 12 months - *

to March 2014
1250 ticket journeys per month for 8 months - *
3500 journeys per month for 4 months

to March 2015
4300 journeys per month for 12 months

to March 2016
indications are that the rate will be up again, realistically in the 3,500 - 4,300 - 5,?00 sequence.   Yes - I could guess what "?" would be, but don't want to make myself a hostage to fortune.   And I say "Bath Engineering" to you to remind you of significant disruption, and trains that are getting so full at certain times that they're capping growth.

P.S. Trowbridge up 6.3% and Westbury up 8.8% as against 4.8% GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) average ...TransWilts is a small player there,but perhaps we can be seen even with our occasional train?   Contrast to Dilton Marsh and Warminster which are not yet served.

Added 07:45 on 16th December ... footnoted comment:
* - Prior to December 2013, some journeys via Melksham were lower in price if you "split tickets" at Melksham. As an educated guess, this may have lead to 4 to 6 "phantom journeys" per day - 2 or 3 real journeys with people travelling through Melksham, but not alighting or boarding there.    These all added up - to somewhere between 1500 and 2000  tickets per annum, making the real journey figures
year to 2013: 10,250
year to 2014: 22,800 (8 months - "via Melksham" ticket introduction removed (almost?) all of the anomaly)
year to 2015: 51,858

[grahame]

I have gone back this morning and amended my technical post here on the Melksham figures - as prior to December 2013 they included split tickets which gave a distortion of around 20%.

Prior to 2010, Melksham's real figures were drowned by distortions - lots of Melksham tickets sold to people who never even travelled to, from or through - but that's now history prior to the current discussion.

[ellendune]

Hadn't thought of the effect split ticketing has on these figures before.  Didcot must be hugely over estimated then.

[TaplowGreen]

Here are ..
a) 2014-2015 figures
b) 2013-2014 figures
c) growth factor from 13/14 to 14/15
d) code
e) name
of all FGW^▸ (First Great Western) as was (now GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)) managed stations

Code:

          247068	      247418	 0.999	TAP	Taplow
      

.............that must have been down to me having a longer than usual holiday 

[Red Squirrel]

Just had a look at Shippea Hill on Google Maps: it must keep the signaller fit, climbing up to the top of that hill every day...

Edit: Ah, Google Maps is out of date. The signaller can take a well-earned rest.