Imperial Wharf opening falls flat

Telegrammed by The Master
A bowler tip to London Connections for reminding Eye that the new Imperial Wharf station was due to open today.

Alas

The first train to call at the new (and much delayed) station this morning... was cancelled:

Headcode: 2M18 UID: W43986 27/09/2009 0815 Clapham Junction [CLJ] to Watford Junction [WFJ]

Location FD Sch. Sch. Expected Expected PL Lateness DR
Arr. Dep. Arrival Departure
Clapham Junction [CLJ] 0815 Cancelled 2
LTCHMRJ Pass 0817 Pass -
Imperial Wharf [IMW] 0819 0819 Cancelled Cancelled
West Brompton [WBP] 0822 0822 Cancelled Cancelled 4
Kensington Olympia [KPA] 0826 0825 2 -1
Shepherds Bush [SPB] 0828 0827 2 -1
NPLE813 Pass 0832 Pass -
MTRBDGJ Pass 0835 Pass -
Willesden Junction [WIJ] Pass 0841 Pass -
WLSDNNJ Pass 0842 Pass -
Wembley Central [WMB] Pass 0844 Pass -
Harrow & Wealdstone [HRW] 0848 0848 Cancelled Cancelled
Watford Junction [WFJ] 0858 Cancelled 10

One just hopes members of the Fourth Estate were still aslumber...

Can't count - won't count

ORR recently published the annual station usage figures for 2006/7.

The resulting media coverage made much of the fact that an alleged 84 million passengers use Waterloo Station each year, whilst just 17 lonely souls used Tyndrum Lower.

A Railway Eye reader travelled to Tyndrum Lower on Thursday 11th July.

He was one of five boarding the train. The conductor had picked up nine more passengers on his outward run, meaning that annual loadings for the station had almost been achieved in just two journeys on one day.

Plainly ORR's station usage figures are just plain wrong.

Delta Rail (formerly AEA Technology Rail) collates station usage for ORR. In their defence the data is drawn from 'Lennon' and excludes non-station specific tickets, so BritRail Passes, Rovers, and Staff Passes don't count.

Even so this must make a nonsense of claims that Tyndrum Lower "cost Scotrail £589 per passenger during 2006/7".

Is Tyndrum Lower the only station where usage figures are so magnificently under reported. Community Railways are advised to mount their own counts.