MORE people in Dorset are using the railways than ever before as new figures show a surge in demand from passengers over the last decade.

Figures released by the Office for Road and Rail (ORR) have revealed that rail passengers travelling from a Dorset rail station to elsewhere across the country have soared by more than 22 per cent from 5.86 million rail journeys were made in 2016/17, up from 4.84 million in 2006/07.

Meanwhile, journeys made by passengers travelling from and from one station in the county to one outside the area increased by 34 per cent to 5.48 million in 2016/17, up from 4.09 million in 2006/07.

The increases come as Network Rail plans to invest £2bn to enhance its services across the Wessex region which covers Dorset as part of its five-year-plan, published this month.

Under the plans, Network Rail will undertake a programme of renewing old Victorian railway bridges and modernising or closing level crossings which will mean a more efficient and safer railway for trains.

At the same time, South Western Railway, the principal operator for rail services in the county along with Great Western and CrossCountry pledged to invest more than £1.2bn across the network

Commenting on the figures, the Rail Delivery Group, a body which represents UK rail operators said the rail network across Dorset and the rest of the country was better able to serve passengers and businesses because of its transformation over the past two decades into what he called a great British success story.

A spokesman said: “Crucial to this success has been the partnership between the private and public sectors, working together to deliver better value to passengers, freight customers and the nation.

“There is much more we need to do to improve services for our customers. Our greatest challenge is to plan and build for the ever-growing demand for rail by increasing capacity cost-effectively and generating revenue to support investment in more and better services.”

Meanwhile, across the South West, more than 26 million journeys were in and out of the region and 27 million journeys were made within it while 1.7 billion rail journeys were made across the country nationally.

However, Mike Cash, General Secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) said that more people meant that there would be an increased pressure on rail services.

Mr Cash, added: “We may well be moving more passengers but for many, it’s at an eye-watering price to travel on rammed out and overcrowded services while the train bosses are laughing all the way to the bank.”