Rise in rail passengers on local line is welcomed as 'fantastic news'

Data from the Office of Rail and Road suggested an overall 8% rise in the use of the stations between Hastings and Ashford International in the year from April 2023 to March 2024 compared with the previous 12 months.

Marshlink Community Rail Partnership Line Chair Kevin Boorman commented: “These figures are fantastic for the Marshlink, and show just how important the line is, both to visitors and the local community. Passenger numbers have increased at every single station along the line, from 6% at Rye, which now sees almost 460,000 passenger journeys a year, to 89% at Doleham, despite the latter only having a handful of trains a day.

“Particularly noteworthy is the increase at Three Oaks. The railway is the only public transport serving the village, and it’s great to see that passenger numbers in 2023/24 rose by 22% to 14,938, the highest usage of this station since these records began over 25 years ago. Winchelsea similarly recorded a large increase, of 18% to 14,196 passengers a year.

“The Community Rail Partnership, with other groups, campaigned hard, and successfully, for reinstatement of an hourly service to these two stations some years ago after they had been cut. It is really encouraging to see that this increase in service has driven demand for the train, as we had hoped it would.

“Community rail is all about getting local people to use and enjoy their local train service, and these figures show just what this means in practice. With continued investment in the line, we hope to see passenger numbers grow even more into the future.”

The rail partnership works to connect people, places and opportunities on railway lines. Marshlink is one of 10 Community Rail lines run by Southeast Communities Rail Partnership Community Interest Company.

A summary of the data for the Marshlink Line stations is on the Community Rail Partnership’s website.

Pictures by Southeast Communities Rail Partnership.

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