MORE than 1.7 million passenger journeys have either begun or ended at Herefordshire railway stations in the past year.

The figures, released by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), show an increase in passengers using Hereford, Ledbury and Leominster stations, but a slight drop for Colwall.

ORR says it estimates the number of passengers using Hereford station for the 2014/2015 period was just under 1.2 million, about 48,000 up on the 2013/14 period.

For Leominster the figure is 273,912, up from 248,828, while Ledbury stands at 203,612 - up from 195,348.

The picture at Colwall is slightly down with the 2014/15 period registering 63,560 passengers, which is down from 65,210.

Nationally, London Waterloo is the busiest station in Britain with almost 100 million passenger exits and entries for the past year.

Birmingham New Street remains the busiest station outside London.

The quietest station is Shippea Hill in Cambridgeshire which has had just 22 passenger exits and entries in the 2014-15 period.