New figures released by the Office of the Rail and Road show that railway stations in the Scottish Borders have experienced drastic drops in passenger numbers due to the pandemic.
Tweedbank, usually the Scottish Borders’ busiest station with 420,000 entries and exits in the previous year, saw just 38,476 passengers in 20/21. This represents a drop of more than 90%.
Galashiels held up slightly better, almost becoming the Borders’ busiest station. In 20/21, there were 37,486 entries and exits, down from 328,000 previously (88% drop).
Stow, the least used station in the Borders, had 8272 entries and exits compared to 70,698 the year before (88% drop).
Across the UK, journeys were down 78%, taking passenger usage to the lowest level since records began in 1872.
The figures relate to the period from the 1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021.
London Stratford was the most used station across the UK with 14 million entries and exits, taking the crown from London Waterloo.
In Scotland, Glasgow Central remained the busiest station with 5.3 million passengers in 20/21.
Six stations across Great Britain recorded no passengers at all due to temporary suspensions in services. They were Abererch, Beasdale, Llanbedr, Sampford Courtenay, Stanlow & Thronton and Sugar Loaf.
John Lamont MP said:
“This is a huge drop in station usage but it is no real surprise.
“With months on end of having to stay at home plus a shift to people working from home, there has been a huge cut in the number of commuters.
“Of course, this will not have been helped by the reduction in services over the last few months as a result of Sunday strikes, and the Scottish Government’s failure to address rail workers’ concerns.
“As people start travelling more it is really important that we see these numbers recover. This will be vital in our fight against climate change, and will of course solidify the argument for the extension to the Borders Railway onto Hawick, Newcastleton and Carlisle.”
