Major preserved lines: annual patronage

[railfan99]

Annual patronage figures can be hard to come by if one isn't a member of a particular railway 'trust' or shareholder in what you call in the UK 'plc' companies.

What was the patronage for selected railways in calendar 2021 and (pre-COVID to give a comparison) in calendar 2021, or alternatively in UK tax years 2018-19 and 2021-22, the latter I gather starting on 6 April and ending onh 5 April the following year? (In my small population nation of Australia, most have a financial year of 1 July to 30 June):

Bluebell Railway (the first!)
Dartmouth Steam Railway
East Lancashire Railway
East Somerset Railway
Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway
Great Central Railway
Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
Llangollen Railway
Mid Hants Railway
Mid Norfolk Railway
Nene Valley Railway
North Norfolk Railway
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
Severn Valley Railway
South Devon Railway
Strathspey Railway

and my favourite:

West Somerset Railway.

Apologies if I've omitted "your" railway. Bear in mind I'm a foreigner, so my knowledge is unlikely to be as good as most UK residents interested in railways, and so far I have only been on DSR, NYMR and SVR. I didn't overly enjoy DSR but the other two were excellent, in fact outstanding with their attention to period detail and friendly volunteers and staff, plus of course the chance to travel behind various steam and diesel locos preserved so well.

I omitted 'Great Little Trains of Wales' as I'm trying to concentrate on standard gauge preserved railways.

From reading, in a 'normal year', NYMR patronage annually should be north of 200000 journeys, and WSR about 195000: impressive figures given neither operates 363 days a year. There will always be issues with how many journeys are ascribed to 'rover tickets' as the UK calls them, so the ridership figures will only be a (close) estimate.

A return journey by one individual in my view counts as patronage of 'one', not 'two'. Different on National Rail services where it'd count as 'two trips'.

On a forthcoming trip I hope to do ELR, EVR, GCR, KWVR, Llangollen, NNR, Strathspey and WSR, all within about 14 days, requiring efficient planning as I also want to do main and branch line excurisions such as to Stourbridge Town with its famous 'people mover' for a three minute trip with often a 10 minute frequency. Thankfully your train frequencies are good to great so it is possible to cover heaps of lines.

 

[John Webb]

It may worth looking at the UK's Heritage Railway Association website - see https://www.hra.uk.com/the-hra-who-we-are-and-what-we-do as they gather annual statistics from the vast majority of the UK preserved network.

Enjoy your forthcoming visit.

 

[railfan99]

It may worth looking at the UK's Heritage Railway Association website - see https://www.hra.uk.com/the-hra-who-we-are-and-what-we-do as they gather annual statistics from the vast majority of the UK preserved network.

Thank you. I did, and have previously as well, but unfortunately its latest statistics (aggregated not individualised) are several years old.

 

[xotGD]

Thank you. I did, and have previously as well, but unfortunately its latest statistics (aggregated not individualised) are several years old.

Anything for 2020 and 2021 is likely to be highly unrepresentative due to Covid.

 

[Titfield]

You need to include Swanage as historically it has been in the top 3 or 4 in the 2010 - 2019 period.

It has been above 200,000 pax per annum for quite a few years.

IIRC NYMR has been above 300,000.

 

[railfan99]

You need to include Swanage as historically it has been in the top 3 or 4 in the 2010 - 2019 period.

It has been above 200,000 pax per annum for quite a few years.

IIRC NYMR has been above 300,000.

Thanks, and apologies to all who work or enjoy travelling on the Swanage Railway.

 

[Paul Hitchcock]

Just a touch of caution. Sheer volumes of people carried are only important if their carriage is profitable.

 

[Magdalia]

What was the patronage for selected railways in calendar 2021 and (pre-COVID to give a comparison) in calendar 2021, or alternatively in UK tax years 2018-19 and 2021-22, the latter I gather starting on 6 April and ending onh 5 April the following year? (In my small population nation of Australia, most have a financial year of 1 July to 30 June):

Christmas/New Year and Easter are significant here, with most railways closed much/all of the time in between. Easter is sometimes in March and sometimes in April so I doubt that many railways use a March year end. The Nene Valley Railway for example has a 31 January year end.

I omitted 'Great Little Trains of Wales' as I'm trying to concentrate on standard gauge preserved railways.

Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is not standard gauge.

DSR, NYMR and SVR. I didn't overly enjoy DSR but the other two were excellent

The DSR is a bit of an anomaly, with much more emphasis on tourism than enthusiasm. The railway for enthusiasts in that part of the world is the Dart Valley Railway.

Anything for 2020 and 2021 is likely to be highly unrepresentative due to Covid.

Delete "likely to be" there!

Two other railways, that may get good patronage because of their proximity to London, are Epping and Ongar Railway and Spa Valley Railway.

And I'd put the Wensleydale Railway in a similar category to the Mid Norfolk Railway. Both are long lines where steam is not the dominant traction. This raises an interesting question as to whether the metric should be number of journeys or passenger miles.