Trivia. Stations which are busier at the weekends than in the week.

[Taunton]

Doesn't Covent Gardens have signs saying its very busy on Friday nights and weekends or something like that

A few years ago the Underground gave their busiest stations for entrances, which overall were the likes of Kings Cross, and then the busiest after 10pm, which were a different set, Leicester Square and indeed Covent Garden among them.

For weekends I'd have to offer South Kensington as well.

Something will ultimately have to be done about the various Underground pinchpoint stations - Camden Town, Covent Garden, South Ken, Clapham Common etc. Expensive, but their revenue must be very substantial as well.

 

[The exile]

Bath is also very popular for commuting, both as a destination and origin (mostly to Bristol) so I wouldn't expect the 2 weekend days to outweigh 5 weekdays, although a Saturday when the rugby's on may well be the biggest single day of the week.

Also, Rugby teams now have capacities around 15,000 and play about 15 home games a year now the prem's down to 10 teams. There's also increasing friday night games. On an annual basis, they really won't be swinging things in the way White Hart Lane or Seven Sisters might be impacted by Tottenham's new 60,000 capacity venue with 25+ home games a year. Although football is now an almost 7-day-a-week competition so they may also be less impacted on weekends, especially at the top divisions.

As a regular user it wouldn’t surprise me if Bath’s figures on some Saturdays exceeded weekdays, despite the commuting. Certainly on the run-up to Christmas.

 

[Djgr]

It would be interesting to see the figures for Cambridge North.

Due to being in the middle of nowhere, the fact some trains (XC) still don't call there, and the poor onward transport links (not helped by the never-ending sagas surrounding the guided busway), I'd say it hasn't remotely met its potential as a station intended to be used by commuters for the science park, business park, etc, or students at CRC. (*I* use it to commute to the science park, but I don't think many do).

Where it has come into its own is as a railhead for leisure travel, you only need to see the large numbers of day-trippers/suitcases getting on mid-morning trains to London/Stansted every day to see that this is where the majority of traffic to/from the station appears to have landed.

As such, I think it quite possible it is as busy, or maybe busier, at weekends than weekdays.

It is not in the middle of nowhere but, not surprisingly, in the north of Cambridge. For some this will be an easier station to access than Cambridge station.

The figures I can see suggest around 1.5 million passengers a year and, whilst I do not have to hand the expected numbers, this is not to be sniffed at.

 

[MikeWM]

It is not in the middle of nowhere but, not surprisingly, in the north of Cambridge. For some this will be an easier station to access than Cambridge station.

The figures I can see suggest around 1.5 million passengers a year and, whilst I do not have to hand the expected numbers, this is not to be sniffed at.

It *feels* like the middle of nowhere and, other than the little cluster of the station, the hotel, the new office building, and recently the new Co-op in the office building, there is nothing of note bar car parks, office buildings and lots of concrete within half a mile in most directions, the only exception being the residental areas of East Chesterton (and the river) if you happen to find your way down Moss Bank. There is no other housing and no shops, pubs, or indeed much of anything. Of course it isn't literally in the middle of nowhere but it still *feels* rather like a Tiverton Parkway or an East Midlands Parkway or the like.

I agree it is a very successful station and I use it multiple times every week. I'm just pointing out that the success is rather less due to the commuter traffic for whom the station was originally proposed (for a while 'Cambridge Science Park' was a likely name).

 

[fandroid]

It wouldn’t surprise me if some places really popular for day trips are busier on Saturdays than weekdays. Somewhere like Bath Spa might be a good example. Often Bath Rugby are playing at weekends too so the station gets very busy throughout the day.

I've been on full and standing trains to Bristol from London on a summer Saturday which have almost emptied at Bath. The passengers didn't seem to be sports fans of any kind. It's an amazingly popular leisure destination.

 

[Pnerick81]

Stations like Coventry arena and falmer I imagine would be busier on a Saturday. Obviously mid week game days would be busy . But I would still think Saturdays would be the busiest

 

[zwk500]

Stations like Coventry arena and falmer I imagine would be busier on a Saturday. Obviously mid week game days would be busy . But I would still think Saturdays would be the busiest

Coventry arena closes for game days because they dont have long enough trains to cope with the crowds, and Falmer is busy with the universities all week. And on game days, people who would otherwise travel into Brighton stay clear of Falmer to avoid the football crowds.

 

[The exile]

I've been on full and standing trains to Bristol from London on a summer Saturday which have almost emptied at Bath. The passengers didn't seem to be sports fans of any kind. It's an amazingly popular leisure destination.

… where parking is a nightmare and costs a fortune!

 

[8ace]

Coventry arena closes for game days because they dont have long enough trains to cope with the crowds, and Falmer is busy with the universities all week. And on game days, people who would otherwise travel into Brighton stay clear of Falmer to avoid the football crowds.

After our home game against Arsenal a week on Saturday we won't have another Saturday home until the 2nd of January against Man Utd (which might move as well). You're lucky if you get more than half your games on Saturday (let alone 3pm) in the Premier League. As has already been said there is a lot of university traffic there the rest of the time. A (subway) station that numbers are overwhelmingly football fans would be Ibrox, there's not much there apart from Rangers.

 

[StephenHunter]

Wembley Stadium on Chiltern?

 

[Grumpy]

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

 

[dk1]

Newquay with its summer Paddington services? In the past it would have been places like Torquay and Paignton but probably not true today.

Torquay & Paignton have both Manchester & Paddington direct services every weekday throughout the year. The three stations on the branch equate to 1.5 million entry/exits annually.

 

[Djgr]

I've been on full and standing trains to Bristol from London on a summer Saturday which have almost emptied at Bath. The passengers didn't seem to be sports fans of any kind. It's an amazingly popular leisure destination.

Perhaps it should be "When a man is tired of London, it must be the weekend".

 

[matchmaker]

Corrour?

 

[Cricketer8for9]

… where parking is a nightmare and costs a fortune!

As it should be. Clearly doing no great harm to the City. Georgian terraces or surface parking? I know which I’d choose.

 

[Kingston Dan]

On the tourist issue - York?

 

[cornishjohn]

Could be going out on a limb, but somewhere touristy like Edinburgh Waverley surely is busier on Saturdays than any of Monday-Friday.

The North Berwick branch is one train per hour in the week, but 2 trains per hour on saturdays, so you could be onto something. I dont think there are that many tourism spots in that direction though, I always imagined this is local traffic.

 

[Peter0124]

The North Berwick branch is one train per hour in the week, but 2 trains per hour on saturdays, so you could be onto something. I dont think there are that many tourism spots in that direction though, I always imagined this is local traffic.

Not to mention E&G being 4tph all day Saturdays.

 

[D6130]

The North Berwick branch is one train per hour in the week, but 2 trains per hour on saturdays, so you could be onto something. I dont think there are that many tourism spots in that direction though, I always imagined this is local traffic.

North Berwick has a lot of tourist traffic.... especially at weekends. It is a pleasant well-heeled commuter and resort town, with one of the finest beaches on the East coast of Scotland and lots of high-quality cafés, pubs and restaurants. It has a bracing walk up the basalt cone of North Berwick Law and boat trips to observe the seabirds on the Bass Rock. There are excellent golf courses nearby and surfing is becoming increasingly popular.

 

[vic-rijrode]

North Berwick has a lot of tourist traffic.... especially at weekends. It is a pleasant well-heeled commuter and resort town, with one of the finest beaches on the East coast of Scotland and lots of high-quality cafés, pubs and restaurants. It has a bracing walk up the basalt cone of North Berwick Law and boat trips to observe the seabirds on the Bass Rock. There are excellent golf courses nearby and surfing is becoming increasingly popular.

Not to mention the wonderful ice cream (sorry gelato) shop!

 

[D6130]

Not to mention the wonderful ice cream (sorry gelato) shop!

Yes....apologies. I had forgotten about that!

 

[takno]

North Berwick has a lot of tourist traffic.... especially at weekends. It is a pleasant well-heeled commuter and resort town, with one of the finest beaches on the East coast of Scotland and lots of high-quality cafés, pubs and restaurants. It has a bracing walk up the basalt cone of North Berwick Law and boat trips to observe the seabirds on the Bass Rock. There are excellent golf courses nearby and surfing is becoming increasingly popular.

Does it have crazy golf? I've only lived in Edinburgh for 20 years, so I've never had the chance to check it out

 

[Cricketer8for9]

Does it have crazy golf? I've only lived in Edinburgh for 20 years, so I've never had the chance to check it out

Depends if you consider the beach at North Berwick being in bounds to be crazy, and the stone wall on one of the holes being an ordinary feature.

 

[317 forever]

Are there any tube stations, especially in the West End, which have (comparatively!) few commuters and lots of leisure travel (though weekday leisure travel's something I'd expect to be higher in central London than, say, the hiking-route examples)?

I wonder whether Ladbroke Grove is busier on Saturdays, for Portobello Road market.

 

[Cricketer8for9]

I’d be very surprised.

 

[ExeBlueBird27]

Chapelton, has more trains on a Sunday than other days of the week.

One large ramblers group can skew the figures in a station this quiet.