Farnham station is getting busier: but it’s narrowly missed out to another Waverley town for the prize of being the most used in the borough.

Figures released by the Office of Rail and Road show that 1.37million people entered or exited the station in 2023/24 – up from 1.2million the year before.

That’s a rise of 14 per cent with around 3,771 passengers a day entering or leaving the station, making it the 372nd busiest in the nation.

Farnham Train Station celebrates 175th Birthday
Farnham station, which opened 175 years ago, is also in the top three - but it’s not the busiest. (Marcus McQuilton)

The prize of the busiest station in both Waverley and East Hampshire goes to Godalming with 1.4million entries and exits while Haslemere takes bronze with 1.29million. Roughly 3,800 and 3,556 people enter or exit the stations every day, respectively.

Haslemere is 389 on the national table but has seen a seven per cent increase in usage over the last 12 months.

The only station in the Herald & Post patch which hasn’t seen an increase in passenger usage is Wanborough with numbers dropping by 5.1 per cent from 57,248 in 2022/23 to 54,294.

Bentley station as it appears today
Bentley station is the second quietest in the patch. (Tom Webster)

Roughly 148 people a day use the semi-rural station in the shadow of the Hogs Back, with Bentley being the area’s second loneliest with 98,966 passengers a year, or 271 a day.

Two stations regularly used by East Hampshire and south west Surrey rail commuters are in the top 100 with Guildford (5.8million) and Woking (6million) coming 82nd and 78th on the list, respectively.

Other Herald and Post-area stations on the list, in order of most busiest: Haslemere (1.29million, 389 nationally), Aldershot (1.22m/411), Petersfield (1.1m/455), Liphook (547k, 783), Alton (544k, 790), Ash (232k/1,247), Witley (187k/1,369), Milford (177k/1,406) and Rowlands Castle (120k/1,602).