The station usage data covering the 12 months from April 2019 to March 2020 has been published, and it shows an increase of 11.7% at Marsden and 8.5% at Slaithwaite. The level of increase is generally significantly higher than elsewhere in West Yorkshire.
This covers a period for 9 months to December 2019 during which the level of cancellations was fairly low (compared with what came before) but with peak frequency cut to pre-1990 levels, followed by 2½ months with the half-hourly peak service, then 10 days of Covid-19 lockdown.
Nevertheless, it gives an idea of what can be achieved if decent quality rolling stock is provided and the trains don’t keep getting cancelled.
| Station Name | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | % change |
| Stalybridge | 1,244,122 | 1,219,638 | -2.0% |
| Mossley | 336,906 | 327,738 | -2.7% |
| Greenfield | 398,628 | 432,830 | 8.6% |
| Marsden | 157,350 | 174,974 | 11.2% |
| Slaithwaite | 208,096 | 225,942 | 8.6% |
Source: Office of Rail & Road
Estimates of Station Usage 2019-20 (orr.gov.uk)
Note: no data available for 2003-04.