Office for Rail and Road statistics show 82.3% reduction in rail passengers at Newcastle Central across 2020-21 year

The Office of Rail and Road have released their newest set of annual data to show how many rail passengers used Newcastle Central Station across the 2020-21 financial year.

The period, which spans April 1 2020 until March 31 2021, saw 1,555,396 passengers enter or exit the station which sees a significant reduction compared to the same period between 2019 and 2020 as a result of Coronavirus travel restrictions and work from home requirements.

Across 2019-2020, data shows 8,815,096 passengers used the station resulting in an 82.3% decrease into the most recent set of data, which was released in December. The numbers do not include Tyne and Wear Metro passengers.

Across the top ten stations in the north east, passenger traffic was down over the period by an average of 77.8%.

Non essential travel was advised against in the middle of March, resulting in fewer travellers. On May 10 2020 the Prime Minister announced a plan to lift lockdown but still advised against non-essential travel before a second national lockdown was announced in November 2020, resulting in further losses in passenger numbers.

According to the data, Newcastle keeps its title as the most used station in the North East with Hartlepool and Darlington taking the rest of the top three spots.

The data is measured through information regarding ticket sales, rather than usage so the Office of Rail and Road suggest these numbers should be taken as estimates rather than being seen as fully accurate. This can be impacted by tickets which are bought and are not used, or passengers travelling without tickets.