Termini that are much quieter than a nearby station

[John Luxton]

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.

Falmouth Docks which was the original Falmouth Station was closed in 1970 when the Town Station opened. However, the section was reopened five years later. I imagine it also picks up cruise passengers wanting to do their own things rather than pay for over priced coach excursions. I did a cruise which called at Falmouth in 2012 ship was in port for two days and though I didn't go on the train, preferring to go on some of the river cruise boats, it is quite handy for the dock gates from which the shuttle bus to the cruise ship operated.

 

[gobbybobby]

Lymington pier, the Lymington branch is half hourly but the ferry it links with is hourly and the last ferry is earlier than the last train by a few hours, the last evening journeys and some in the day that don't meet the ferry are just driver and guard after Lymington town. Most passengers are getting on/ off Lymington Town.

The journey between town and pier is only a few minuets but still counts for this thread I would say.

 

[simonw]

Chessington North 0.489

Chessington South 0.344

 

[lyndhurst25]

Headbolt Lane passenger figures are less than Kirkby.

 

[Krystal]

Heathrow T4 and Heathrow T5 when there's T2&3 nearby (is that cheating?)

 

[Royston Vasey]

Colchester Town and Colchester, mentioned earlier, only counts when considering the Liverpool Street to Colchester Town services, whereas the Walton on the Naze trains reverse at Colchester Town before terminating at Colchester.

Thurso is well over twice as busy as Wick!

 

[Lewis10104]

Are these "nearby" enough?

1. Windermere vs Oxenholme
2. Larkhall vs Hamilton Central
3. Balloch vs Dumbarton Central

Not actually checked the stats but they jump to mind as possibles. Wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't much in it between Balloch and Dumbarton Central though.

 

[Horizon22]

Heathrow T4 is quieter than T2/3

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Surprisingly, Waterloo and Clapham Junction in the morning headed outwards. You can be in a sparsely-filled carriage leaving Waterloo, and after the crowds on Clapham Junction platform all seats are taken. On the local lines Vauxhall likewise adds substantially to the load from the terminus.

You can sometimes get this at Stratford too.

 

[xotGD]

Many posters are missing the point of this thread. The OP is looking for a busier station on the branch line, not the junction station with the main line.

I'll offer the KWVR. Haworth being a much more popular destination than Oxenhope at the end of the branch.

 

[John Griffiths]

If metros are allowed, then Monument is rather busier than St James on the Tyne & Wear Metro. Similarly - I would guess - Sunderland and Park Lane are busier than the rather snoozy South Hylton. But then where isn't busier than either of those termini?

 

[Lewis10104]

It's not really "nearby" (about 40 miles...) but Stranraer has half the passenger numbers compared to Girvan two stops back up the line.

Neilston (375,994) vs Patterson one stop back (488,400).

 

[John Griffiths]

Girvan... The Ayrshire Riviera!

 

[ld0595]

Girvan... The Ayrshire Riviera!

That's what I had in mind too. Stranraer had 30k entries/ exits last year Vs Girvan at 61k.

Girvan and Stranraer are 30 miles apart so it's not exactly nearby, but only Barrhill separates them.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Many posters are missing the point of this thread. The OP is looking for a busier station on the branch line, not the junction station with the main line.

Yep, basically that. Aylesbury Vale Parkway is the original example.

 

[Lewis10104]

Yep, basically that. Aylesbury Vale Parkway is the original example.

Then Neilston and Patterton definitely fit!

 

[Royston Vasey]

In that case, how about Grimsby Town, which is over 40% busier than Cleethorpes. 300k is hardly quiet mind you!

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Blyth Bebside is expected (by Geoff Marshall anyway) to surpass Ashington on the newly reopened Northumberland Line, due to its catchment area and road accessibility. No idea if this has become the case.

 

[William3000]

London Liverpool Street to Cambridge North, with the penultimate stop being Cambridge (Central).

I think Harwich International was much busier than Dovercourt and Harwich Town decades ago.

Grimsby Town might be busier than Cleethorpes.

 

[scrapy]

Burnley Central and Nelson both busier than Colne.

 

[AM9]

.lI think Harwich International was much busier than Dovercourt and Harwich Town decades ago.

Previously known as Parkeston Quay station.

 

[bigmanaiq]

Sheffield to Doncaster stopping services extended on to Adwick? Not that I've ever been on any of these. It would seem that this extension is simply so that the train isn't using up valuable platform capacity at Doncaster while turning round.

I was on one of these around 3 weeks ago, and the train had emptied to about half full (or empty) between Doncaster and Bentley, and I was the only passenger after the latter.

 

[Springs Branch]

I was about to mention Hunts Cross vs Liverpool South Parkway on Merseyrail's Northern Line - based on my observations the couple of times I've alighted at LSP en route from central Liverpool that large crowds seem to get off at Parkway, leaving a modest handful of passengers still on the unit departing for Hunts Cross.

But looking at the entry and exit data, plus some of the ticket sales figures from LSP and HNX, these seem to suggest that there are actually more passengers to/from Hunts Cross than South Parkway (at least on Merseyrail). Of course, the official data might be significantly wrong at these two stations, where a lot of local passengers will be using Merseytravel zone tickets. Or my couple of visits might have coincided with unusual passenger flows to South Parkway. Or is Hunts Cross some kind of handy spot for ticketing splits?

 

[plugwash]

I'd imagine south parkway also sees a fair few interchange passengers (which may or may not be correctly recorded in the stats) between the Northern Line and longer distance services to the South and East. While the CLC line from Liverpool to Manchester passes through both South parkway and Hunts cross, the "fast" trains on that route do not stop at Hunts Cross, and the route to crewe/birmingham/london doesn't pass through hunts cross at all.

Since south parkway is listed in the data as one station (despite the long walk between platforms), journey planners are likely to prefer it over a change in Liverpool city center that requires walking between two staitons.

 

[Djgr]

I was about to mention Hunts Cross vs Liverpool South Parkway on Merseyrail's Northern Line - based on my observations the couple of times I've alighted at LSP en route from central Liverpool that large crowds seem to get off at Parkway, leaving a modest handful of passengers still on the unit departing for Hunts Cross.

But looking at the entry and exit data, plus some of the ticket sales figures from LSP and HNX, these seem to suggest that there are actually more passengers to/from Hunts Cross than South Parkway (at least on Merseyrail). Of course, the official data might be significantly wrong at these two stations, where a lot of local passengers will be using Merseytravel zone tickets. Or my couple of visits might have coincided with unusual passenger flows to South Parkway. Or is Hunts Cross some kind of handy spot for ticketing splits?

I would speculate that the data might be suspect but both stations are busy in their own right, both as destinations and interchange.

As you suggest, most passengers will not be using point-to-point tickets.

 

[Thebaz]

Both Banstead and Belmont are marginally busier than Epsom Downs, though none of them would really count as being 'busy'.

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Oxted (1.3m) busier than East Grinstead (1.1m)

 

[Efini92]

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?

I think parking is the main reason.

 

[Llandudno]

I think parking is the main

Not helped by the fact that the last train departs from Piccadilly at 2121 to Rose Hill on weekdays and there are no trains at all on Sundays…!

 

[Fenchurch SP]

Arguably Fenchurch in comparison to West Ham

Probably is outside of the peaks. West Ham and Limehouse combined might be more than Fenchurch Street .

 

[saismee]

Previously known as Parkeston Quay station.

Still found in its CRS code of "HPQ"!

 

[scrapy]

I think parking is the main reason.

Both stations have very similar sized car parks (approx 70 spaces) and there is alternative on street parking around.

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Whilst technically a thorough station. For all intents and purposes Ellesmere Port is a terminus for Merseyrail and although no buffers, lack of electrification means trains cant go further (Merseyrail dont generally use dual mode trains on that route). Ellesmere Port is quieter than Hooton.

 

[Tetragon213]

Cardiff Bay and Queen Street? One is basically a relatively quite branch terminus, the other is a major thoroughfare for multiple lines.