A TransPennine Express service at Preston station

Record number of passengers passed through Preston station this year, with the station bucking the downward trend according to the Office of Rail Regulation.

150,000 additional people entered and exited the station last year up 4%, performing better than Manchester’s main station Piccadilly, down 1.5%, and beating Liverpool Lime Street, 0.06% higher compared to the year before.

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The rise in passenger numbers come at a time as Preston’s out of sorts and dilapidated station cries desperately for a complete revamp.

The good news is a £20m injection will radically modernise the city station, bringing it into the 21st century.

Plans include replacing footbridge steps with escalators and add more escalators in a bid to improve passenger access, and upgraded passenger facilities including a first class lounge.

Separately, platform 5 and 6 will be extended in time for the arrival of new 11-car Pendolinos on the west coast network.

With the improvements being lined up, more trains are due to stop at Preston meaning even more passengers will use the station.

An announcement on the fate of the Grand Central application to run a service between Blackpool North and London Euston via Preston is due by the end of February.

A decision to provide a new Birmingham – Preston service is due later in the year.