Ely rail station sees passenger numbers soar

Ely’s railway station saw the second highest number of passengers pass through its platforms in Cambridgeshire last year.

Figures in a new Office of Rail Regulation report show that there were 1,976,134 exits and entrances at the station from April 2013 to March, up from 1,878,246 the previous year – an increase of about five per cent.

Ely was second only to Cambridge station, the most used station in Cambridgeshire, and in the east of England, with a total of an estimated 9,824,859 entrances and exits by passengers.

The Office of Rail Regulation report, based on ticket sales for 2013/14, shows that Abellio Greater Anglia saw an estimated 183,686,306 entrances and exits at all its stations from April 2013 to March - a 6.1pc rise compared to the previous 12 month period.

At the station in Littleport the statistic for passengers was 225,024, while at the Shippea Hill stop, it was just 12.

The Office of Rail Regulations show that in the east of England there were an estimated 195,854,995 recorded entries and exits into stations by train passengers - a rise of 3.5pc compared to the previous period.

Nationally there were an estimated 2,665,123,512 entrances and exits at stations, a rise of 4.8pc compared to the previous period.

A spokesman for the Office of Rail Regulation said: “Station usage statistics are an estimate of the number of passengers travelling to and from each station (entries and exits).

“Figures are primarily based on ticket sales data recorded in rail industry systems.

“There are limitations to the dataset, as the figures are estimates and do not represent exact numbers.”