Black Country's busiest railway stations as number of train journeys continues to increase

A total of 32,241,256 journeys on trains operated by Avanti West Coast, Transport for Wales or West Midlands Railway were completed between October and December last year, up 24 per cent on the same period in 2022 and 82 per cent on the same period in 2019 - the last before the pandemic - when the three operators' trains carried 39,773,109 passengers.

The improvement on 2022 is ahead of the national increase; in total 417 million journeys were made from October 1 to December 31, up 20 per cent on the 348 million the previous year.

The last three months of 2023 was also the first time passenger journeys in quarterly time period topped 400 million since the end of 2019.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), which released the numbers, said that in the most recent quarter, Avanti West Coast recorded a 38 per cent year-on-year increase on passenger numbers which was partly put down to the operator planning 'at least 40 per cent more trains compared with the reduced timetables in place in the same quarter in the previous year.

The ORR also highlighted the reduction in strike days compared to the autumn of 2022 as helping passenger numbers go back up.

Across the UK, the number of advance, anytime/peak and off-peak ticket sales went up by 38, 19 and 21 per cent respectively year-on-year, while season tickets only went up by seven per cent.

The numbers come as a group commissioned by the Mayors of the West Midlands and Greater Manchester to improve connections between the two city regions provisionally concluded that a new rail line between Handsacre in Staffordshire and Manchester Airport is the preferred option, following the Government's decision to cancel HS2 north of Birmingham.

A private sector group, chaired by infrastructure expert Sir David Higgins, had been looking at three potential options to help tackle the congestion on the West Coast Main Line and improve connectivity between Birmingham and Manchester.

Although more detailed work is still to be done ahead of final conclusions this summer, the group has provisionally concluded that a new line, running approximately 70 miles between HS2 at Handsacre and Northern Powerhouse Rail at High Legh, is likely to offer the best combination of costs and benefits, aiming to relieve pressure on the already congested West Coast Main Line and M6 motorway - allowing for more passenger and freight journeys.

Black Country's 10 most used stations

Back in December the ORR revealed passenger numbers at each of the country's railway stations between April 2022 and March 2023. The top 10 in the Black Country and Staffordshire, based on the ORR's estimated entries and exits, are:

• Wolverhampton - 4,445,864. Most popular origin/destination: Birmingham New Street - 1,718,454 journeys

• Stafford - 1,638,862. Most popular origin/destination: London Euston - 323,556 journeys

• Stourbridge Junction: 1,092,624. Most popular origin/destination: Birmingham Now Hill - 344,270 journeys

• Walsall - 970,830. Most popular origin/destination: Birmingham New Street - 587,768 journeys

• Kidderminster - 915,886. Most popular origin/destination: Birmingham Moor Street - 195,568 journeys

• Sandwell and Dudley - 806,692. Most popular origin/destination: Birmingham New Street - 365,656 journeys

• Rowley Regis - 762,624. Most popular origin/destination: Birmingham Snow Hill - 284,382 journeys

• Lichfield Trent Valley - 688,278. Most popular origin/destination: London Euston - 259,604 journeys

• Lichfield City - 633,292. Most popular origin/destination: Birmingham New Street - 295,190 journeys

• Cradley Heath - 539,490. Most popular origin/destination: Birmingham Moor Street - 206,974 journeys

The data for station usage from April 2023 to March 2024 will be released later this year.