Rail campaigners can find out how many people are using their local stations by downloading the latest statistics from the internet.

Or can they?

The total number of people using each station in Great Britain is listed in an Excel spreadsheet obtainable from the Office of Rail Regulation website.

But the figures from the ORR are vastly at odds with counts carried out by local campaigners from the Cambridge Heath and London Fields Rail Users Group.

At Cambridge Heath station in London, the ORR estimates there were a total of 150,240 passengers in 2008-9, compared to local campaigners’ estimates of at least 408,000.

The campaigners say they counted 1,634 passengers on an ordinary day in May 2009 (from 6am to 7pm). Not counting late evening, Saturday and Sunday passengers, the group estimates the annual usage is at least 408,000.

The ORR figure for London Fields is 184,470, compared to local campaigners’ estimate (again based on actual daily counts) of 516,000.

The ORR data can be downloaded from ORR

Cambridge Heath and London Fields Rail Users Group