Railway stations across Cornwall saw a massive drop in passengers last year, despite it seeming like everybody came down here on holiday.

All the stations in Falmouth and Penryn saw a huge drop in numbers as a direct result of the pandemic in the latest figures issued by the Office of Rail and Road.

Falmouth Town saw the number of entries and exits drop from 222,028 in 2019/20 to 85,498 in 2020/21. Falmouth Docks entries and exits dropped from 114,088 in 2019/20 to 38,320 in 2020/21 while at Penryn it fell from 247,760 to 99,794. At Penmere, Falmouth it fell from 199,352 to 77,144.

Truro was the busiest station but still saw a huge drop in users from 1,211,362 in 2019/20 to 419,996 in 2020/21. Redruth fell from 342,446 to 123,520, Camborne from 277,540 to 118,444, St Ives from 706,826 to 293,880 and Penzance from 573,718 to 190,426.

Feras Alshaker, director of planning and performance at the Office of Rail and Road said: “Throughout 2020-21 the railways remained an essential service for those people who needed to travel during a year which was impacted by the pandemic.

“We’ve seen a radical change, especially in London, in the stations people were using the most. Stratford, Highbury and Islington, Clapham Junction, Barking and East Croydon replaced Kings Cross, St. Pancras, Euston and Paddington in the top ten, underlining their importance as vital stops and interchanges, linking key workers with underground and bus services to travel.

“This year we have seen many railway stations with very few passenger entries and exits. However, we know that recent figures show leisure journeys are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, while there has been a slower increase in commuter journeys.”