More than 4.6m people used Huddersfield rail station last year.

And there was also heavy demand at other stations in the area, including Dewsbury (1.6m), Brighouse (349,036) and Mirfeld (393,088).

The figures confirm a new study which shows Britain’s railway stations are becoming ever more crowded.

All the top 10 busiest stations reported an increase in passengers in the last financial year (April 2012 to March 2013).

And the number of people using stations across Britain in this period rose 3.3%, the statistics from the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) showed.

The figures were music to the ears of those involved in campaigning for more rail travel.

Peter Marshall, of Honley, chairman of the Huddersfield-Sheffield-Penistone Rail Users’ Association, was delighted.

“It is good news that more and more people are using rail services.

“We have seen similar figures in recent weeks from Northern Rail, who run many services in our area.

“A lot of schoolchildren use the trains and we re also finding people using the service late into the night. I got off the 10.15pm from Huddersfield to Honley the other evening and six people got on at Honley.

“Last weekend, when Huddersfield Town played Sheffield Wednesday you could not get on at stations along the Penistone Line because the trains were so busy.

“The only negative is that as more passengers use the services, the trains are getting more overcrowded and there are no signs of any improvement in the rolling stock we use

“We are also worried as South Yorkshire transport chiefs are to end the concessionary travel on March 31 to save money”.

Berry Brow railway station.
Berry Brow railway station.

Based on the estimated number of exits and entrances to a station during 2012/13, Waterloo in London was the busiest station, with numbers, compared with 2011/12, rising 1.9% to almost 96 million.

Second was Victoria in London, with numbers rising 1.6% to 77.34 million, with another big London terminus, Liverpool Street, third with a 2.4% rise to just under 58.45 million.

The busiest non-London station in 2012/13 was Birmingham New Street where numbers rose 2.7% to 32.09 million. The largest rise among the top 10 stations last year was Euston in London where the number of exits and entrances rose 4.9% to almost 38.3 million.

After Birmingham New Street, the busiest non-London station was Glasgow Central, with numbers rising 2.2% to 27.18 million.

The next busiest provincial stations were Leeds (up 4.6% to 26.2 million), Manchester Piccadilly (up 1.0% to 23.15 million) and Brighton (up 0.8% to 16.18 million).

Of the busiest stations, just two saw fewer passengers in 2012/13 than in 2011/12, with numbers dipping 4.9% at both Liverpool Central and Liverpool Lime Street.

LOCAL STATIONS

Huddersfield - 4,656,700

Halifax - 1,911,150

Dewsbury - 1,603,702

Mirfield - 393,088

Brighouse - 349,036

Batley - 263,850

Slaithwaite - 185,594

Denby Dale - 177,036

Marsden - 166,910

Honley - 50,506

Lockwood - 50,148

Berry Brow - 25,978

Click here to take you back to more Huddersfield news.

To follow us on Twitter click here