Putney Station Remains at Half Peak Passenger Levels
Usage declines more than at other locations on the network
Putney Station
January 5, 2024
The latest rail industry figures show that, although Putney station has seen strong growth more recently in passenger numbers, it remains well below its peak usage levels.
It was the 81st busiest station on the rail network between April 2022 and March 2023 with 5.1million people entering and exiting an increase of nearly 600,000 people on the previous year.
Of these 1.7million paid the full fare, 2.3million paid a concessionary rate and 1.1million had season tickets.
However, this remains less than half the levels seen during the all-time peak in 2014.15 when 11.2million passengers used the station.
Most stations across the country remain well below their peak usage due to the impact of Covid-19 and increased working from home but Stephen Luxford, convenor of the transport panel for the Putney Society, points out that Putney’s fall is unusually large. Wandsworth Town, for instance, is only 25% short of its peak.
He says, “Perhaps Wandsworth Town’s fall has been offset by the substantial increase in new flats near the station. Possible causes of the Putney decline might also be the drop in local office and retail employment leading to fewer commuters in and out plus the poor off‐peak rail timetable post Covid, making alternative travel options more attractive.”
Although South Western has increased the service since the reduction made during Covid the number of trains has been reduced over the years with around 28 trains an hour during peak hours and 18 off peak.
Other station users have speculated that congestion on the High Street has meant that commuters using buses as part of their journey along with the train have switched to other stations.
The long term decline in passenger numbers may explain why Network Rail appears to not be moving ahead with opening a second entrance at the station having committed to a feasibility study back in 2019.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |