Rail station usage: April 2022 to March 2023

Main points

Figure 1: Station entries and exits in Wales, 2015-16 to 2022-23

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Description of Figure 1: Bar chart showing levels of station entries and exits by financial year from 2015-16 to 2022-23. In 2022-23, there was an increase in the number of entries and exits compared to the previous year.

Source: Welsh Government analysis of ORR estimates of station usage data

Rail station usage in 2022-23 increased by 31.9% to 38.3 million from 29.0 million in the previous year (2021-22). While overall rail station usage levels increased compared to 2021, they have not yet returned to levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic where 50.4 million entry and exits were recorded during 2019-20.

The total number of station entries and exits (the number of people travelling to or from a station) in Wales increased between 2021-22 and 2022-23 (from 29.0 million to 38.3 million).

Rail station usage remained below pre-pandemic levels, with usage in 2022-23 24.0% lower than in 2019-20.

In 2022-23, 218 rail stations reported an increase in station entries and exits across Wales compared to the previous year. 5 stations reported a decrease.

Cardiff Central was the busiest station in Wales accounting for over a quarter of all station entries and exits in 2022-23 (Figure 2).

Rail station usage in Wales accounts for around 1.6% of the United Kingdom total.