Almost all of Bolton's railway stations were busier this year than last year, amidst a longer trend of increased usage. 

New ONS statistics on train station usage have been released. The stats show passenger entries, exits and interchanges for every station in the country from April 2022 to March 2023. 

Compared to the same stats from April 2021 to March 2022, most of the stations in Bolton and its surrounding towns saw an increase.

Out of the 15 stations, only two stations, Moses Gate and Hindley, had less footfall. 

Bolton station alone had a gain of 155,206 passengers, while Hall i' th' Wood went from 108,286 to 143,024, an increase of almost a third. 

This comes amidst an overall increase of 10 per cent in rail usage in Bolton since 2019. 

A spokesperson for Northern said: “The number of people choosing to get about the region by rail from Bolton is indeed up – with an overall increase of around 10 per cent since 2019 – and we hope more people will make the switch from road to rail in 2024.

"Everyone can check the cost, travel time and CO2 emission equivalence of their journey with Northern compared to the same trip by road using the ‘Savings Calculator’ on our website.” 

Here are the statistics for 2022 vs 2023:

All tickets - 2022 

Atherton - 179,860 

Blackrod - 132,044 

Bolton - 2,344,116 

Bromley Cross - 211,250 

Daisy Hill - 149,930 

Entwistle - 19,296 

Farnworth - 43,744 

Hall i' th' Wood - 108,286

Hindley - 206,002 

Horwich Parkway - 390,384 

Kearsley - 40,976 

Lostock - 143,826 

Moses Gate - 31,460 

Walkden - 216,630 

Westhoughton - 164,848

 

All tickets - 2023

Atherton - 192,862 - GAIN

Blackrod - 154,244 - GAIN

Bolton - 2,499,322 - GAIN

Bromley Cross - 239,014 - GAIN

Daisy Hill - 161,288 - GAIN

Entwistle - 20,426 - GAIN

Farnworth - 48,002 - GAIN

Hall i' th' Wood - 143,024 - GAIN

Hindley - 202,750 - LOSS

Horwich Parkway - 447,328 - GAIN

Kearsley - 48,408 - GAIN

Lostock - 177,296 - GAIN

Moses Gate - 30,918 - LOSS

Walkden - 241,574 - GAIN

Westhoughton - 180,030 - GAIN 

Thirteen miles of track will be electrified under a project from Wigan to Bolton.

The trains, which would pass through Westhoughton, Hindley and Ince stations, would also have extra capacity, says Mr Heaton-Harris, allowing for "greener, more comfortable and more reliable journeys"

This comes as The Department for Transport announced that regulated fares in England will increase by up to 4.9 per cent next March.