Angus railway station is the least used in the UK

A railway station in Angus is the least used in the UK, new figures show.

Barry Links railway station near Carnoustie has been identified as Britain's least-used station. Picture: PA

Just 24 passengers travelled to or from Barry Links in 2016/17, according to data published by the Office of Rail and Road.

The unstaffed station on the line between Dundee and Carnoustie is served by just one ScotRail train a day in each direction, Monday to Saturday.

There are no ticket machines, toilets or CCTV system, but there are facilities for bicycle parking.

Shippea Hill in Cambridgeshire was named the least used station in 2015/16, but the subsequent publicity saw its annual passenger usage jump from 12 to 156.

Brian Boyd, an independent councillor on Angus Council, said Barry Links is used much more than the figures suggest.

He told the Press Association: “Many people buy Carnoustie tickets but get off at Barry. These figures are quoted based on who buys tickets for stations and you can’t buy a ticket at Barry so you buy it at Carnoustie.

“I can assure you there’s at least a dozen passengers coming off each and every evening from the tea-time train at Barry. Yes, there aren’t many trains that stop there but the figures are way out, in my opinion.

“People at the west end of Carnoustie are closer to Barry Links than the main Carnoustie station so there would be a lot of disgruntled customers if it was ever closed down on the view that it’s not used.”

Mr Boyd insisted it is “not the least used station” and expects it to be popular next summer as golf fans travel to the Open Championship at Carnoustie.

“With golf coming in 2018, it will used considerably more because it’s right on the perimeter of the world-renowned golf course,” he said. “It’s an important station for the area.”

The ORR said its figures are estimates based on ticket sales.

London Waterloo was Britain’s busiest station for the 14th consecutive year.

Some 99.4 million passengers used the station in the past year, up by more than 250,000 on 2015/16.

Birmingham New Street - which saw a £600 million redevelopment completed in 2015 - is the most used outside London with 42.4 million passengers, putting it at number six on the overall list.

Glasgow Central retains its position as the busiest station in Scotland (32.1 million passengers), and Cardiff Central was top in Wales (12.5 million passengers).

Total usage of Britain’s stations increased by 0.4% year-on-year to 2.9 billion entries and exits.