Termini that are much quieter than a nearby station

[Bletchleyite]

Talking of Aylesbury Vale Parkway on another thread made me wonder about this one - how many cases are there of a terminus station that is very quiet a little way on from a much busier station that is perhaps the main purpose of the line or at least a significant one? Vale Parkway has a very quiet, rural feel though there's a lot of building around it so that won't last forever, and has cheap parking and is nice and quiet as things stand.

I'm not thinking of through services that are mostly used for intermediate journeys e.g. the MKC-Euston stopper which is not very busy until it gets to Tring in most cases, but MKC is a very busy station. I'm more thinking of stations which have very low usage at the end of the line, either where that's an actual terminus (a dead end) or where the services terminate.

One from the past might be Bedwyn vs. Newbury, though that's no longer a through service. Another might be Chathill (Morpeth being much busier) though that service wouldn't exist without the intermediates. Any branch lines where it is the case where the actual end of the line is very quiet but another station a bit further on is quite busy? Corkickle temporarily I expect?

 

[Iskra]

Wrexham Central

 

[Bletchleyite]

Wrexham Central

Interesting one. Do more people board/alight at General on the branch train? Would seem surprising, though it does sort of fit in the sense that General is a much busier station - but is it on the branch itself? It probably does parallel Morpeth.

 

[The exile]

Severn Beach is much quieter than several of the intermediates - though admittedly the busiest of those are several miles away.

 

[renegademaster]

Moorgate ?

 

[Iskra]

Interesting one. Do more people board/alight at General on the branch train? Would seem surprising, though it does sort of fit in the sense that General is a much busier station - but is it on the branch itself? It probably does parallel Morpeth.

Well it isn’t much slower to walk to Central from General and Central is in a dead part of town. General has all the connections and is handy for being picked-up/dropped-off plus has staff, a ticket office and is a nicer place to wait.

 

[A S Leib]

Thameslink, Elizabeth Line and the Mildmay and Windrush lines (not that Cambridge, Reading or Clapham Junction are quiet)?

I'd guess services from Littlehampton or Eastbourne to London, especially in the winter outside peak times, are considerably busier north of Gatwick.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Rose Hill Marple has to be less busy than Romiley normally is. Similarly, Heysham compared with Morecambe. Possibly also Ore compared with Hastings. One more, Alloa compared with Stirling.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Rose Hill Marple has to be less busy than Marple normally is.

Marple of course isn't on the same line as Rose Hill. It is a good example though - Romiley is certainly busier than Rose Hill Marple.

It's curious that Rose Hill isn't busier as it's bang in the middle of Marple. Whereas Marple is in quaint little Marple Bridge, a far quieter area. I guess force of habit due to its more frequent service and Sheffield service?

Similarly, Heysham compared with Morecambe.

Heysham doesn't have a frequent service but is well used for the ferries, or was the one time I used it.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Marple of course isn't on the same line as Rose Hill.

Oops! So noted. You're quite right with that. Duly amended!

P.S. More boarding at Morecambe than at Heysham last time I did the one t.p.d. working.

 

[imagination]

One from the past might be Bedwyn vs. Newbury, though that's no longer a through service.

It still is on Sundays, plus a limited number of morning/evening trains on weekdays.

Tenby gets quite significantly more passengers than all five stations beyond it put together.

 

[zwk500]

I'd guess services from Littlehampton or Eastbourne to London, especially in the winter outside peak times, are considerably busier north of Gatwick.

Gatwick isn't particularly near Eastbourne or Littlehampton, though. However, the Eastbourne services sometimes continue to Ore, which is a lot less busy than Hastings.

 

[LittleRedTrain]

Alton has about a third of the users of Farnham (which is presumably why Farnham-Alton wax singled and some trains used to terminate at Farnham off-peak).

 

[greatkingrat]

Barking Riverside is much quieter than Barking.
Shoeburyness also has lower usage than other nearby c2c stations.

 

[TheDavibob]

This used to hold with the Lichfield stations (from a pure Cross-City line perspective), but I think it's less strong these days with Trent Valley getting a much better West Coast service and the increased housing on that side of the town ("city").

 

[NSEWonderer]

Cannon street in comparison to London bridge most of the time especially on weekends.

Arguably Fenchurch in comparison to West Ham

 

[AM9]

Falmouth Docks vs Falmouth Town. Neither of them busy by major station standards, but the Dockyard station is deserted for most of the day whereas Town has a steady flow whenever I've been there.
Maybe there is a rush hour at the dockyard station when Dockyard employees start and end their working day.

 

[dosxuk]

Colchester Town

 

[Class73Electro]

Possibly Portsmouth Harbour? Portsmouth & Southsea and (especially) Fratton generally feel a lot busier

 

[Iskra]

Llandudno Junction is 35% busier than Llandudno town when you include interchanges, although I’m not sure if that counts.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Over in East Anglia, how does Walton-on-Naze compare with nearby Frinton? Would have thought the latter was the busier!

 

[VT 390]

Over in East Anglia, how does Walton-on-Naze compare with nearby Frinton? Would have thought the latter was the busier!

In the 24/25 station usage statistics Frinton-on-Sea had around 60,000 more entries and exits than Walton-on-the-Naze.
Its similar to Harwich Town and Dovercourt nearby with Dovercourt (second to last station on the branch) having around 50,000 more entries and exits.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Depending on what you count as the terminus of the line, Nunthorpe? It's probably comparable to James Cook (which is slightly further up) but both pale in comparison to Middlesbrough.

Similarly, Saltburn vs Redcar Central - though they're rather closer in usage than I expected. Redcar beats Saltburn by about 50,000 (400k vs 350k).

And while we're in the area, I might as well mention the Tyne & Wear Metro. Obviously this isn't National Rail hut perhaps it's noteworthy how it manages this with two of its four termini. There is a vast difference between Monument and St James (even solely passengers on Monument's E-W platforms), and also a large difference between South Hylton and the two Sunderland city centre stations a little further up the line.

 

[Cross City]

Cannon street in comparison to London bridge most of the time especially on weekends.

I used Cannon St for the first time on Saturday and I was stunned how quiet it was. I know the CoL is quieter on the weekends thoughI still assumed it'd get decent traffic, but the place was a ghost town late morning and at around 5pm.

 

[Djgr]

Well it isn’t much slower to walk to Central from General and Central is in a dead part of town. General has all the connections and is handy for being picked-up/dropped-off plus has staff, a ticket office and is a nicer place to wait.

That's not my experience. Wrexham Central is closer to the shops (and the centre)

 

[James H]

Lymington Pier vs Lymington Town

 

[py_megapixel]

I haven't checked but I'd be very surprised if Alderley Edge gets more passengers than Wilmslow.

Also fairly sure Hadfield is generally quieter than Glossop.
In this case I think Hadfield is actually the terminus because it is quieter - the track layout makes it possible to call at Glossop and Hadfield in either order, so it makes sense to give the busier station the shortest journey to Manchester.

 

[JW4]

I haven't checked but I'd be very surprised if Alderley Edge gets more passengers than Wilmslow.

Alderley Edge

Post Covid: 0.2-0.25 million

Pre Covid: 0.25-0.30 million

Wilmslow

Post Covid: 0.85-1.25 million

Pre Covid: 1.4-1.6 million

It’s night and day

Also fairly sure Hadfield is generally quieter than Glossop.
In this case I think Hadfield is actually the terminus because it is quieter - the track layout makes it possible to call at Glossop and Hadfield in either order, so it makes sense to give the busier station the shortest journey to Manchester.

Hadfield

Post Covid: 0.25 million

Pre Covid: 0.35-0.4 million

Glossop

Pre Covid: 0.9-1.1 million

Post Covid: 0.6-0.75 million

Again over double, nearly triple

 

[david1212]

Shoeburyness vs Southend Central ?

 

[Magdalia]

Shoeburyness vs Southend Central ?

For ORR 2024/25 entrances and exits there is an increasing sequence of 4 stations here:

0.5m Shoeburyness
0.7m Thorpe Bay
1.3m Southend East
2.2m Southend Central