Bassetlaw train station usage remains below pre-pandemic levels

Station usage more than doubled across Great Britain in 2021-22 as people across the country returned to more normal travelling routines following the pandemic.

Office of Rail and Road figures show 849,706 passengers entered and exited train stations in Bassetlaw in 2021-22 – up from 240,546 the year before but below pre-pandemic levels of 1.1 million in 2019-20.

Worksop was ranked 816th of the country’s about 2,570 stations with 365,284 passengers, while Retford was 713th, with 456,144.

Shireoaks was ranked 2,066th, with 28,278 passengers, while Whitwell was ranked 2,234th, with 13,572 entries and exits and Creswell recorded 30,718, to be ranked 2,039th.

Shirebrook was ranked 1,736, with 64,744 passengers, while Langwith-Whaley Thorns recorded 12,268 entries and exits, to be ranked 2,251st.

Across the country, passenger numbers rebounded from a pandemic drop in 2020-21.

An estimated 1.8 billion visitors entered and exited train stations in Great Britain last year – more than double the 690 million visitors the year before.

But this was still well below the 3bn passengers who used stations in 2019-20, before the pandemic.

The ORR’s estimates of station usage are taken from the rail industry’s ticketing and revenue system Lennon, with some local ticketing data.

Adjustments are made to make the estimates as accurate as possible, the regulator said.

Feras Alshaker, ORR director of planning and performance, 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.”

Transport think tank, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, said it is positive to see numbers rebounding, but there is still a long way to go.

London Waterloo was top with 41.4 million passengers, while Nottinghamshire’s Elton and Orston station was the least-used in the country, with just 40 recorded entries and exits.

The Department for Transport said it has provided more than £16bn of funding for passenger services since the start of the pandemic.