Revealed: The most used railway stations in the West Midlands, and the station which sees just two passengers per week
Statistics out this week from the Office for Road and Rail show the busiest stations in the region - and those which have seen dwindling passenger numbers over the past year.
The ORR's station usage report says a total of 1,610 million passenger journeys were made nationally during the latest reporting period, an increase of 16% from the 1,380 million journeys made in the previous year.
In the Black Country, Wolverhampton topped the list with nearly five million(4,770,990) passengers estimated to be passing through the entry and exit gates, up by around 325,000 on last years numbers, while numbers also increased at Stourbridge Junction which saw 1,261,822 passengers pass through.
Stafford saw passengers rise sharply to over 2 million (2,028,558), up by around 400,000 from last year, while Walsall saw passenger numbers increase for the third year in a row rising from just under a million to 1,147,708.
Stations in Birmingham remained the busiest in the West Midlands region, with New Street becoming the busiest station outside of London with over 33 million people passing through in the twelve months between April 2023 and March 2024. Moor Street racked up 6.4m passengers with University topping the 3m mark. Combined, Birmingham's busiest stations racked up over 50 million passengers over the year.
The region's least used station was in the village of Polesworth, near Tamworth, which clocked up only 118 passengers in twelve months, or just over two passengers per week. Since 2005, the station has only one platform and is only served by one "parliamentary service" train per day, heading north.
Nationally, London Liverpool Street station has retained its title as Great Britain’s most used railway station in 2023-24 with just over 94 million passengers, gaining more than 14 million entries and exits since the previous year. Denton railway station in Greater Manchester becomes the least used station in Great Britain, at 54 entries and exits.
Feras Alshaker, Director, Planning and Performance at the Office of Rail and Road, said: “These statistics provide crucial insights for passengers, the rail industry and its stakeholders and demonstrate clearly how travel patterns are changing across the country.
"Alongside our rail usage statistics they show that since the pandemic rail usage continues to increase and that the investment put into the Elizabeth line is fundamentally reshaping passenger journeys into and around London.”
