Fratton is Portsmouth's most used railway station

Changing commuting habits, with increased home working and fewer work-related trips, have been given as explanations for reduced use of trains, with estimates of entries and exits at the five stations in the city 25 per cent down on 2019/20.

NOW READ: South Western Railway sets out its plan for the future

The data, published on Thursday (November 24), shows 5.3m people travelled by train last year, well above the 2m figure for 2020/21 but still significantly below the more than 7m before the pandemic.

Feras Alshaker, the director of planning and performance at the Office of Rail and Road, said work was still needed to hit those levels again but that its analysis of ticketing systems showed a national recovery.

‘It is heartening to see passengers return to travelling by rail following what was a difficult period for the industry during the pandemic,’ he said. ‘There’s still some way to go in order for station usage figures to return to pre-pandemic levels.’

Its data showed London Waterloo has reclaimed its crown as the busiest station in the country with more than 41m entries and exits.

At just over 1.5m passengers, Fratton is estimated to be the busiest station in Portsmouth and is ranked 252nd nationally, having overtaken both Portsmouth and Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Usage of Fratton station is still 15 per cent lower than it was, however Portsmouth and Southsea, Portsmouth Harbour and Cosham stations are all 29 per cent down over the same period.

Passenger numbers more than doubled at Hilsea station last year but its figure of 276,000 is still 18 per cent below 2019/20 numbers.

Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for transport Lynne Stagg said this trend reflected increased numbers of people working remotely, including the council whose employees now only average two days a week in the office.

‘The pandemic has clearly had an effect but we have also been asking for changes, particularly improvements to the east-west route since long before it arrived,’ she said. ‘Trains are an important part of the mix of options we need available to be able to reduce reliance on cars.’

Cllr Stagg said discussions had been held with Southern and South Western Railway through the regional Solent Transport body, of which she is chairwoman, hoping to integrate train ticketing into the Breeze app.

‘These things are slow, particularly because these are profit-driven private companies with shareholders but it is positive,’ she added.

Last month, South Western Railway, which manages all five stations in Portsmouth, confirmed it would be introducing a new timetable in December with alterations aimed at meeting predicted changes in demand.

Among this, it said, was ‘improved distribution’ of off-peak services between its London terminus at Waterloo and Portsmouth.

‘It is encouraging that London Waterloo has regained its position as the most used railway station in Britain,’ a company spokesman said. ‘However, the data shows that the number of customers using the station remains well below pre-pandemic levels, in line with our overall recovery rate of around 70 per cent. On December 11, we will introduce our new timetable with a limited number of targeted interventions within existing budgets to optimise services.’