Shropshire's busiest train stations revealed as footfall plummets
Shrewsbury was the busiest railway station in the region in the past year but had one quarter of the footfall compared to normal, new figures show.
Passengers numbers across the whole of UK plummeted because of the pandemic, a 78 per cent drop over the 12 month period.
Despite the pandemic there were still more than half a million entries and exits through the busiest station in Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin.
The Office of Rail and Road said 549,692 passengers passed through the entrance and exit gates to Shrewsbury Railway Station in the year to the end of March 2021.
That compared to 2,221,170 the previous year. The station is an interchange for trains serving the Midlands and Wales and the North West.
At Telford Central Station there were 205,242 passengers through the exit and entrance gates compared to 1,190,850 the previous year.
Figures for stations in the region for the year to March 2021 compared to the year to March 2020 include:
Shrewsbury: 549,692 compared to 2,221,170
Telford: 205,242 compared to 1,190,850
Wellington: 182,092 compared to 705,016
Oakengates: 19,735 compared to 68,862
Ludlow: 65,540 compared to 266,090
Church Stretton: 45,818 compared to 126,760:
Gobowen: 37,790 compared to 218,970
Wem: 24,242 compared to 102,186
Whitchurch: 23,424 compared to 144,724
Shifnal: 39,078 compared to 206,674
Cosford: 15,688 compared to 99,316
Yorton: 3,004 compared to 7,544
Across the Welsh border station figures were:
Welshpool: 33,782 compared to 165,724
Newtown: 22,420 compared to 151,570
Machynlleth: 17,030 compared to 121,068
Chirk: 14,788 compared to 78,030.
Birmingham New Street was the busiest station outside London, with 7.4 million passengers.
