Chester Railway Station sees passenger numbers double in 10 years
Chester station is eighth busiest station in the north west
Chester Railway Station
The number of train passengers passing through Chester Railway Station has more than doubled in the last 10 years.
Latest figures from the Office of Road and Rail reveal 4,523,402 passenger entries and exits in 2014-15 compared with 2,239,061 in 2004-05.
This makes Chester the eighth busiest station in the north west out of 327 operational stations, placing it in the top 2.5%. Nationally, Chester ranks 99th out of 2,539 operational stations, placing it in the top 4% busiest stations in the country.
Most stations in Cheshire West and Chester have seen similarly large increases in passenger numbers over the same period. In order of popularity, Hooton is second best used, followed by Ellesmere Port, Bache, Hartford, Northwich, Capenhurst and Winsford.
In contrast with Chester, Stanlow and Thornton station, on the Ellesmere Port to Helsby line, which receives only a limited ‘Parliamentary’ service, was the 15th quietest station nationally with only 158 passenger entries and exits in 2014-15.
Transport enthusiast John Murray, of Queen's Park, leading a recent tram tour which began opposite Chester Railway Station.
Rail enthusiast John Murray, a data analyst who has examined the statistics, said: “I think it’s good that rail has increased. The factors behind the success of Chester could be connected with the introduction of the direct London service. Merseyrail has also increased the frequency of its service to every 15 minutes, it was half hourly.
“I think that services to Manchester desperately need improving. We see problems on the M56 almost every day so there needs to be an alternative. At the moment it is an hourly service, often with just two carriages meaning people can’t always board at busy times of the day.”
There is hope coming down the track with a half hourly service between Chester and Manchester from 2017 and brand new 100mph trains by 2019. In addition, there is the prospect of better links to Liverpool Airport from 2018 when the Halton Curve is reinstated.
Chester Railway Station has seen a doubling in passenger numbers over a 10-year period
One intriguing feature of the data is a particularly steep rise in passenger numbers using Chester between 2012-13 to 2014-15.
Based on his own research, Mr Murray, of Queen's Park, wonders if there is a connection between a decline in the number of city-based financial services jobs around that time leading more people to commute to work outside of Chester in places like Manchester and Liverpool.
And Chester station looks set for even more passengers as the Central Business District for new businesses and homes is being built alongside with the first building expected to accommodate 600-700 people, many of whom will commute to the site by rail.
