please empty your brain below
While I’ve no way of proving it I wonder whether the numbers on the Piccadilly line are affected by Heathrow becoming the single dominant employment location for much of West London.

Robert Butlin | 28.09.18 - 7:37 a.m. | #

I think the percentage increase table has gone a bit wrong somewhere. Wood Lane and Fairlop have the same numbers but different percentages.

Greatkingrat | 28.09.18 - 8:13 a.m. | #

It wouldn't be Anorak Corner if it didn't have at least one cut and paste error... thanks.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 28.09.18 - 8:17 a.m. | #

Some of the decrease in ridership is due to the loss of industry, Burnt Oak and Park Royal had much more of it, employing lots of people doing stuff, around them back then (how many got the tube to Edgware, then the bus to Aldenham?), also the train service from Mill Hill Broadway is so much better now than the steam hauled version in 1951.

A timetable from 1947 shows morning peak departures into London from Mill Hill Broadway @ 06:19, 07:12, 07:32, 08:27, 08:55, 09:05, 09:50 then nothing until 11:22.

Still Anon | 28.09.18 - 8:22 a.m. | #

Waterloo's 1951 numbers will also have been affected by the W&C being British Rail I'd guess?

Al__S | 28.09.18 - 8:26 a.m. | #

Interesting post, but the main reason for my comment is to acknowledge and show my appreciation for the Covent Garden "mushroomed" pun.

Jamesthegill | 28.09.18 - 8:28 a.m. | #

Jamesthegill,

Yes, it is witty but a mushroom is neither a fruit nor a vegetable - so not that witty.

Alan Hannaford | 28.09.18 - 8:37 a.m. | #

@Alan Hannaford

I bet you're a fun guy to be around at parties...

(Sorry)

Jon Jones | 28.09.18 - 8:40 a.m. | #

Any suggestions as to why Euston has had such a massive increase in numbers?

dg writes: The Victoria line.

Jon Jones | 28.09.18 - 8:41 a.m. | #

I've used the Uxbridge branch for 15 years. It's gradually got a lot busier. A few tourists venture to Park Royal due to the recent opening of a new hotel. Alperton has always been busy and has recently seen a large number of flats built in the area so numbers will continue to rise. Rayner's Lane is similar, its growing in exits and entries on top of interchanging for the met line.

Sudbury Hill continues to have significant number of people living in the area, but my feeling is that people are generally starting to live further afield such as South Harrow and Rayner's Lane. Beyond Lane, the trains have always been much quieter except during peak travel presumably for people going to Ruislip and Uxbridge.

One other reason the Piccadilly line has got busier during the time I've used it, is that no buses link directly all the intermediate stations. The best is a 487 from South harrow to Alperton as far as I am aware. There are no direct buses from Lane to any station beyond South Harrow. I believe the buses in Sudbury hill only serve Sudbury town on the route too (H17?). Also the Chilterns service at Sudbury and harrow road was cut back to only a few trains in peaks. These factors may suggest why the route has also become busier.

Paul | 28.09.18 - 10:08 a.m. | #

Epping's big rise up the chart is probably explained by the fares policy, which puts it in Zone 6 whereas all the neighbouring stations on the Bishops Stortford line are way outside the Zones. Which is why Epping has a big problem with car parking capacity.

Marylebone is interesting, because although it has indeed seen a resurgence since Chiltern Rail took over 20-odd years ago, 1951 was before the Great Central line started to be run down in the first place. It would be interesting to see its figures for c1984.

timbo again | Homepage | 28.09.18 - 10:09 a.m. | #

To get an annual amount per station, multiply by 50 not 52 - people (ie commuters by tube) tended to have a fortnight's holiday each year.

Annual passenger data is notoriously hard to reach, especially for before the gatelines were installed. In the 1990s at least, we did passenger counts by click-counters at stations on a strict basis - Tue / Wed / Thu only, in term time, only in weeks where there were no public holidays or major events on the surrounding weekends.

But that still had to allow for changes to bus and train availability - breakdowns, technical failures, unexpected transfers between bus and Underground resulting from those. So counts should have been taken at least twice a year.

Joel | 28.09.18 - 11:14 a.m. | #

The one that interests me is Morden. It's at the end of the line so a seat is virtually guaranteed, yet a 32% drop. Did people drive there in 1951 and park near the station, presumably a practice made more difficult these days by parking restrictions. Any local resident got any explanation?

dg writes: There were only 3 million cars on the UK's roads in 1951, 10% of today's total.

J. | 28.09.18 - 11:20 a.m. | #

To a biologist, a mushroom is indeed neither fruit nor veg - in fact it is more closely related to Kylie Minogue than either.

But to a shop keeper or logistician it is part of "FRV" - because of where it is displayed and its temperature demands.

All of which is a complete distraction from a fascinating post. I was particularly attracted to the diamond-shaped station symbols on the map, which somehow evoke warm memories of my father's carefully preserved collection of pre-war bus and tram maps.

Malcolm | 28.09.18 - 11:20 a.m. | #

"Waterloo and Victoria are a little further down the list than they are today, because the Jubilee and Victoria lines weren't operational in 1951."

I'd imagine the lack of Waterloo & City Line (given it was British Railways at the time) probably doesn't help either.

Muzer | 28.09.18 - 11:44 a.m. | #

Fascinating, really fascinating. And the explanations for the changes especially.

I'm afraid I am going to be the one to take exception to the colour in which Shoreditch is shown though: I remember the publicity campaign, around 1990, when LRT said "We've turned the East London orange to aid you". (The H&C went pink shortly afterwards, but without the assistance of bad puns). It had been described as the "METROPOLITAN LINE: East London Section" on maps up until that time, with two Met-line purple lines around a white core. Not 100% certain this was the case in 1951, but it's quite possible.

dg writes: Re-coloured, thanks.

Dominic H | 28.09.18 - 11:49 a.m. | #

Fascinating numbers. I wonder if the Edgware numbers have also been impacted the Bedpan electrification and then Thameslink service which transformed the line into St Pancras and the City from a pokey and irregular diesel service into a much more useful and attractive electric one (well until the recent shambles anyway!)

Instead of taking a bus to Edgware, people in Borehamwood or Mill Hill Broadway now take the NR service.

Mikey C | 28.09.18 - 12:14 p.m. | #

Judging by the long bus queues at the stops serving Morden station in the evening (and the well-loaded buses going to the station in the morning), a lot of people still use the bus to get to and from the station, especially in the peaks.

Perhaps there has been a shift to using rail in places like Sutton? Another explanation could be that more people living in these areas are working locally. I work in Sutton, and I gather that it was only in the 1960s or later that large office buildings went up. Wimbledon too has several larger employers, and there are industrial estates in Merton, Hackbridge and the like which do not seem all that old.

Morden resident | 28.09.18 - 12:22 p.m. | #

I haven't read your smallprint, but on the portion of the map you have shown, why is Royal Oak just a dot?

kev | 28.09.18 - 12:24 p.m. | #

@kev. Because it wasn’t run by London Underground. Slightly strange from this timeframe, but I assume Royal Oak had Main Line platforms and so was run by British Rail (Western Region). What’s strange is that Westbourne Park was run by the Underground even though there were main line platforms.

Robert Butlin | 28.09.18 - 12:42 p.m. | #

@Robert Butlin/ Kev
According to Wikipedia the Hammersmith branch (from Green Lane Junction just east of Westbourne Park station) came into the control of the Underground in 1948, but Royal Oak remained in BR ownership until 1970, despite GWR trains ceasing to call there in 1934.

timbo again again | Homepage | 28.09.18 - 2:32 p.m. | #

@timbo again again
I have a better source than Wikipedia so can give you these transfer dates from BR to London Transport:-
1967: West Ruislip, Ruislip Gardens, South Ruislip and Greenford
1969: Bow Road to Upminster Bridge (excluding Barking)
1970: Westbourne Park and Royal Oak

Noel | 28.09.18 - 3:17 p.m. | #

Rickmansworth to Amersham, Chesham and Aylesbury and Epping to Ongar still had steam trains in 1951.

Sprout Eater | 28.09.18 - 4:09 p.m. | #

I live near Morden. It is definitely still a busy railhead for people who come into the bus station and transfer to the tube.

Why those volumes haven't grown like other nearby stations I've no idea.

Eric | 28.09.18 - 5:37 p.m. | #

Joel @ 11:14 -- unless you think that everyone takes exactly the same two weeks off (and the trains run empty for those two weeks), DG is surely correct to multiply by 52 to get annual numbers, and not by 50!

James Webber | 28.09.18 - 7:16 p.m. | #

Always lived in Alperton area, commuted to school in 60s/70s from Alperton, changing at Acton Town. Trains on branch then, at least as frequent if not more so than now, were always jam packed and you had to squeeze on to car. These days you can normally get a seat at similar times of travel, or at least stand with breathing room.
The Picc is a slow route to London but don’t know why it should be less busy these days than it used to be.

Geoff Lumley | 28.09.18 - 7:26 p.m. | #

The tram is new since 51 and goes near Morden. Taking the tram and then train from Wimbledon to Waterloo is probably quicker for many.

Jon | 28.09.18 - 7:30 p.m. | #

Thanks James Webber - a pedantry, but 'everyone' had 2 weeks holiday at some time, no matter when the counts were taken, only the rare few commuted every week.

Then there's leisure and one-off travel, business visitors, cross-London connecting rail passengers, all making annual counts (pre-gates) carry a margin of error...

Joel | 29.09.18 - 2:49 p.m. | #

"a pedantry, but" is a phrase I hope I never hear anyone use ever again.

Michael | 29.09.18 - 5:12 p.m. | #

Nice seeing South Acton, a spur off of the District line.

david s | 01.10.18 - 1:24 p.m. | #

I'm very late, but you can increase the resolution of most pictures posted on Twitter by appending ":orig" to the URL, as in: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DmML8a7XoAAH3-b.jpg:orig

For this post, this gives a 2880x1978 image which is much easier to read than the 1200x824 one you linked.

swirlythingy | 03.10.18 - 5:50 p.m. | #

Thanks! I've been using 'large' to enlarge Twitter photos for years, and I'm delighted to discover there's a bigger size.

And this greater clarity has indeed affected the figures...

I thought Charing Cross said 546, but it's actually 933... which makes it the busiest station!

I've now updated the post (and one consequence is that Morden no longer appears, in case anyone was wondering why there are so many comments about it above).

diamond geezer | Homepage | 03.10.18 - 6:25 p.m. | #

Nobody seems to have mentioned the demise of the (South London) trams in 1952. The Embankment was the terminus of many routes from all over South London.

Surely the reduction and eventual disappearance of the replacement bus routes meant the end of passengers transferring from the Underground to trams and v.V and that is the reason for the decline of passenger numbers 1951/2018 at Charing Cross/Embankment?

IsarSteve | Homepage | 04.10.18 - 3:23 p.m. | #

Would Charing Cross (embankment) numbers in 1951 not been hyper inflated by the festival of Britain crowds

By walking over the hungerford bridge it would have been one of the nearest stations I reckon?

dg writes: Not in February 1951.

Marc McKenna | 10.10.18 - 7:58 a.m. | #











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