Harry Potter-featured railway line station Beasdale recorded no passengers

But it now has a new claim to fame after the station was revealed as the quietest in the UK – after registering zero passengers last year.

With the pandemic hitting passenger numbers across the UK, the Scottish station still managed to rate below the previous year's least-used railway station - Berney Arms in Norfolk which had just 42 passengers between April 2019 and March 2020.

This year Berney Arms, the rural platform without a car park lost it's 'quietest' status, registering 348 passengers. It is believed to be the result of curious travellers being attracted by the 'least used' publicity.

The single platform of Beasdale just 26 miles west of Fort William failed to record any entries or exits in the year according to new estimated figures from the Office of Rail and Road - which said it was largely down to the impact of the Covid pandemic.

But John Barnes, vice president of the Friends of the West Highland Lines said the figures were "totally misleading" as they only take into account tickets sold in stations and said it was wrong to say no passengers got on and off there.

"A lot of trains on the line see people get off and get on yet the ORR only cover tickets sold to and from the station.

"We suffer from that. It is deficient for tourist lines. "It is the reason people closed stations under Beeching, because they only take into account tickets sold at stations."

He also said the figures were obscured last year because of the pandemic restrictions and claimed ScotRail "did little" to encourage people back.

"The only marketing for the line is for the steam train and that doesn't even stop at Beasdale although the ScotRail service does," he said.

"ScotRail and Transport Scotland could be doing a lot more to promote journeys on the West Highland Lines and particularly intermediate stations. This is the real worry."

The ORR admit that some ticket sales and ticketless travel are not included, which may mean that usage at some stations is "underestimated".

Beasdale was originally a private station for the nearby category B listed Arisaig House, built in 1864.

It is a feature of the West Highland Line's 84-mile Jacobite steam train trip from Fort William to Mallaig which starts near the highest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis, visits Britain's most westerly mainland railway station, Arisaig, passes close by the deepest freshwater loch in Britain, Loch Morar and the shortest river in Britain, River Morar before finally arriving next to the deepest seawater loch in Europe, Loch Nevis.

The West Highland Line, the steam train and the Glenfinnan viaduct had a starring role as the Hogwarts Express taking Harry from platform 9 ¾ all the way to Hogwarts. 

The station is popular with those planning to explore Glen Beasdale which takes walkers through oak wood and onto open heath, towards Bealach a Mhama and with stunning views of the surrounding hills of Aodam an t Sidhein Mhoir and Sidean Mor to the north, Drium Fiaclach and Glac Ruadh to the south and Beinn na Caorachand Beinn nan Cabar to the east.

According to the Friends of the West Highland Lines, Beasdale marks a reprieve for locomotives, particularly for driver and fireman in the days of steam power, before a gruelling 1 in 48, mile and a half climb from the Loch nan Uamh viaduct.

Beasdale station, which before the pandemic in 2019/20 had 324 passengers, was one of six deserted stations during the pandemic.

The others were Abererch, Gwynedd, Llanbedr and Gwynedd in Wales; Sampford Courtenay in Devon, Stanlow and Thornton in Cheshire, and Sugar Loaf, Powys.

Glasgow Central recorded the most passenger entries and exits in Scotland during a year that saw Britain's passenger rail usage slump by 78% in a year.

According to the ORR, this was the lowest level of journeys seen since at least before 1872 and is a result of the pandemic.

Some 14.8 million passenger journeys were made using ScotRail in 2020-21 and Glasgow Central remained the busiest station with 5.3 million entries and exits, down from 32.5 million in 2019.

Edinburgh Waverley (2.9m), Glasgow Queen Street (2.3m), Paisley Gilmour Street (982,530) and Partick (634,162) completed the top five most used.

The ORR said as many as 47 railway stations in Scotland recorded fewer than 1,000 travellers in 2020-21.

Feras Alshaker, director of planning and performance at the ORR 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.

“Glasgow Central has consistently appeared as one of the top 10 most used stations outside of London and it is clear it remained a key destination for many passengers during the pandemic.

“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.”

A ScotRail spokesperson said: “The pandemic has changed how people travel across all of Scotland, and although customers are gradually returning to the railway, we’re still trying to recover.

“We want to encourage as many people as possible to travel by train, and to make their journey a seamless and sustainable one. Earlier this year we introduced our Highland Explorer active travel carriages on the West Highland line to Oban, and in time hope to extend these services to Fort William and Mallaig.”