A railway station close to Merseyside and served by just two trains a day was one of the least used in the country.
New data has revealed that Ince and Elton Station, close to Ellesmere Port and the Stanlow oil refinery, had just 130 passengers between April 2022 and March 2023. The statistics, from the Office for Rail and Road, showed just seven other stations had less passengers during the same time period.
The station serves two villages, Elton and Ince, which have a combined population of only 3,700 people. The station is served by a minimal train service, between Ellesmere Port and Helsby, of two trains per day each day. The first of the morning comes from Liverpool Lime Street and returns in the evening via Warrington Bank Quay.
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A spokesperson for Northern, which operates the services on the line, told the ECHO: "Customers across Cheshire are well-served by rail services, with stations at Ince and Elton, Mouldsworth, Stanlow and Thornton, Warrington Central and more. We remain committed to serving all stations across the borough as part of an industry-agreed timetable."
Data showed the busiest station in the North West was Manchester Piccadilly, which had over 23m passengers through its gates in the same time period. Liverpool Central was second and Lime Street was third on the list, both with over 11m passengers.
The busiest train station in the country was London's Liverpool Street which overtook Waterloo. A total of 80.4m entries and exits were recorded through the station's turnstiles in the year up to March 2023.
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