FEWER people are travelling by train in Bradford, according to new figures.

All but one of the train stations in the district saw a drop in the number of people passing through their ticket barriers, but almost five million passengers still used Bradford's two main railway stations.

The latest figures provided by the Office of Rail and Road show 4,795,800 passed through the ticket barriers of Bradford Forster Square and Bradford Interchange in 2017/18, but 5,088,964 used the stations in 2016/17.

Although around 300,000 fewer people used the two main stations, Bradford Interchange is still the most used station in the city, with 2,768,524 passengers boarding trains from the station, compared to the 2,027,276 people who used Bradford Forster Square.

The figures make Bradford Interchange the 284th most used station in the country.

The only station to record a rise in the number of passengers was Apperley Bridge, which saw 350,312 entries and exits in 2016/17, but recorded 372,442 travellers over the last year.

In its first year since re-opening to the public, Low Moor saw 133,060 people board trains at the station.

Low Moor was only one of three train stations to open last year.

The other two new stations, Cambridge North and Ilkeston attracted more than 488,000 and 252,000 entries and exits respectively.

Shipley was the third most used station in the district with 1,716,332 followed by 1,664,604 passengers in Keighley, 1,336,554 in Ilkley and 1,244,952 used Bingley train station.

A total of 902,948 people used Saltaire station, 431,058 used Frizinghall and 286,048 used Baildon.

Britain's least used railway station was named as British Steel Redcar, while some 94.4 million passengers used London Waterloo to make it Britain's most used.

Only 40 passengers used the North Yorkshire station in 2017/18.

The coke ovens and blast furnace at the nearby SSI steel plant were shut down in 2015 - leading to a drop in demand for the railway station - but there are still some people employed at the site.

Just four Northern trains stop at the station each day between Monday and Saturday, two to Bishop Auckland and two to Saltburn.

According to the National Rail Enquiries website, it has no ticket machines, no waiting room, no toilet facilities and no step-free access.

Last year's least used station - Barry Links in Angus, Scotland - saw the number of entries and exits more than double to 52, making it only the second least used station.

Rail enthusiasts often visit the most rarely used station from the previous year to boost its passenger numbers.

London Waterloo was confirmed as Britain's busiest station for the 15th consecutive year.

Some 94.4 million passengers used the station in 2017/18.

This was down 5 per cent on the previous 12 months, due in part to the three weeks of disruption in August while major engineering work was carried out.