Scottish rail station is LEAST used in Britain
A TINY railway station in Angus is the least used in Britain, new figures have revealed.
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Just 24 passengers travelled to or from Barry Links station in 2016/17, according to data published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) The unstaffed station – which opened in 1851 – on the line between Dundee and Carnoustie is served by just one ScotRail train a day in each direction, Monday to Saturday.
There are no ticket machines, toilets or CCTV system, but there are facilities for bicycle parking.
However, Brian Boyd, an independent councillor on Angus Council, said he believes the station is used more than the figures suggest.
He said: “Many people buy Carnoustie tickets but get off at Barry.
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I can assure you there’s at least a dozen passengers coming off each and every evening
“These figures are quoted based on who buys tickets for stations and you can’t buy a ticket at Barry so you buy it at Carnoustie.
“I can assure you there’s at least a dozen passengers coming off each and every evening from the teatime train at Barry. Yes, there aren’t many trains that stop there but the figures are way out, in my opinion.”
Mr Boyd, who represents the Carnoustie and District Ward, expects the station to be well-used next summer as golf fans travel to the 147th Open Championship.
He said: “With golf coming in 2018, it will be used considerably more because it’s right on the perimeter of the world- renowned golf course."
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“It’s an important station for the area.”
Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley are Scotland’s busiest railway stations, with 32,060,134 and 22,582,342 entries and exits respectively.
London Waterloo maintained its title as the UK’s busiest station for the 14th consecutive year.
Some 99.4 million passengers used the station in the past year, up by more than 250,000 on 2015/16.
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The ORR survey covers 2,560 UK mainland railway stations. Five other stations – Teesside Airport, Breich in West Lothian, Kildonan in Sutherland, British Steel Redcar, and Reddish South – had fewer than 100 entries and exits.
l Among the small number of people who travelled to Barry Links this year were a young couple visiting every station in the UK.
Video producer Geoff Marshall and museum worker Vicki Pipe, from London, set out to visit all 2,563 railway stations in Britain and finished their mammoth journey in Wick in August.
Ms Pipe, 34, said she embarked on the marathon trip because she is interested in the social history of Britain’s railway network, while Mr Marshall, 44, enjoys challenges, having twice set a fastest time record for travelling to every London underground station.
