The Secret Life of Ghost Stations: How We Count the UK’s Quietest Platforms
Every year, railway enthusiasts and news outlets eagerly await the "Charts" of the rail world. But while London Liverpool Street and Waterloo usually battle for the number one spot, there is often much more affection reserved for the bottom of the table: the "ghost stations."
If you have ever stood on a silent, grassy platform in rural Devon or Cornwall and wondered, "How do they actually know I’m here?", you aren't alone. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has just released its latest estimates, and the science behind counting these lonely passengers is fascinatingly complex.
Here is a simple guide to how the numbers are crunched, followed by a look at the quietest spots in the South West.
You might assume there is someone with a clicker at every station, or that ticket barriers do all the work. But because many UK stations don't have barriers (especially the quiet ones), the ORR uses a complex "recipe" to cook up the estimates.
1. The Main Ingredient: LENNON The base of the data comes from a system called LENNON (Latest Earnings Networked Nationally Over Night). This is the industry's central computer that records ticket sales. If you buy a ticket from "Exeter St Davids" to "Barnstaple," LENNON records that journey.
2. Filling in the Blanks (The "Infills") Ticket sales don't tell the whole story. What about Oyster cards, contactless taps, or Zonecards where the ticket doesn't name a specific station? The statisticians use "infills"—overlays of data to estimate where these passengers are actually going. For example, in 2024/25, they used special "tap" data to fix an issue where the Elizabeth Line was looking artificially busy due to how tickets were being rounded up,.
3. The "Sherlock Holmes" Adjustments The raw data can sometimes lie. For instance, commuters often buy a season ticket from a station further down the line if it’s the same price, just to have the flexibility of getting on earlier. The ORR applies mathematical adjustments to move those "ghost" passengers back to their real home stations. They also run algorithms to detect "split ticketing"—where people buy multiple tickets for one journey to save money—so intermediate stations don't get credit for passengers who never actually stepped off the train.
4. The "Ghost" Exceptions It is important to remember these are estimates. They generally don't include fare evaders or railway staff travelling on passes. So, if you sneaked onto a train at a rural halt without a ticket, you technically didn't exist!
So lets see the stations for Devon & Cornwall that are in the least used stations list:
The Loneliest Stations in Devon & Cornwall (2024/25)
The South West is home to some of the most scenic, yet sparsely used, stations in Britain. According to the latest data, these are the least used stops in the region, along with the likely reasons for their solitude:
• Chapelton (Devon)
◦ Passengers: 160 entries and exits.
◦ Why so quiet? Located on the rural Tarka Line, this station has extremely limited service, often seeing only two to four trains a day,. It serves a tiny hamlet, and the service is so infrequent that it struggles to be a viable option for commuters.
• Coombe Junction Halt (Cornwall)
◦ Passengers: 224 entries and exits.
◦ Why so quiet? Often cited as one of the UK's least used, this station is a quirks of the Looe Valley Line. Trains have to reverse here to change direction, but few actually stop to let people on. It is situated in a remote spot near Liskeard, and for most locals, it is actually quicker to walk to the main Liskeard station than to wait for the Halt’s rare train.
• Portsmouth Arms (Devon)
◦ Passengers: 596 entries and exits.
◦ Why so quiet? Another stop on the Tarka Line (Exeter to Barnstaple), this station serves a very sparsely populated area. Like Chapelton, it is a request stop, meaning the train won't even slow down unless you wave at the driver.
• Lelant Saltings (Cornwall)
◦ Passengers: 650 entries and exits.
◦ Why so quiet? This station has seen a massive fall from grace. It was once a busy Park & Ride hub for St Ives. However, since the transport hub moved to nearby St Erth, the Park & Ride facility here has effectively ceased, leaving the station with very little purpose.
• Sandplace (Cornwall)
◦ Passengers: 966 entries and exits.
◦ Why so quiet? A picturesque stop on the Looe Valley Line, it serves a very small hamlet and a holiday park. Like many on this list, it is a request stop with a timetable designed more for operational necessities than commuter convenience.
So, next time you are travelling through Devon or Cornwall, why not hop off at one of these quiet spots? You might just double their passenger count for the day!
Of course way back in 2016 an effort was made to increase the numbers for Coombe Halt: (I must admit when I was looking into this post, I didnt realise it was that long ago!)
http://www.plymothiantransit.com/2016/05/junction-jaunt.html
