Flimby station usage

[cuccir]

Hello,
A Wikipedia hole recently took me to looking at Workington North and Flimby stations.

One thing that struck me was that Flimby - which if people recall, was the closest station to north Workington before the temporary Workington North station opened after the destruction of local road bridges in the 2009 floods - saw an obvious passenger spike in the immediate aftermath of the floods, but has retained a good chunk of this increase:

2008/09 6,884
2009/10 8,756
2010/11 12,770
2011/12 15,746
2012/13 14,238
2013/14 13,566
2014/15 13,028

Is this a sign that commuters who were forced onto the rail in late 2009 liked what they saw and stayed? Or is there another cause (better revenue collection perhaps)? Are there other examples of emergencies boosting long term rail use (if that's what has happened)?

 

[thenorthern]

The introduction of the locomotive hauled trains I think has increased passenger numbers along that line a bit and I would think some people would be parking there when the bridges were closed to get into Workington and have continued to do so since the new bridges have been built.

 

[Fairford Flyer]

As my Son and Daughter in Law live around 100 yards of the station I was up there this weekend. Having travelled up from Euston I caught the 1433 Saturday 16th from Carlisle (37423 Spirit of the Lakes), 4 including me alighted at Flimby. I caught the 0647 back Monday, 3 of us boarded plus 1 was waiting opposite for the 0649 Southbound. With the Maryport Folk Festival being held the weekend after next the line will be busy. I have to say the train staff do an excellent job checking and issuing tickets when I am up there.