The latest station retail results show a 2.54 per cent growth in like-for-like sales between Q3 (1 October-31 December) 2011 and Q3 2012. Over the same period, the British Retail Consortium reported sales on the high street grew by only 0.2 per cent.

Most stations showed rises, although trade fell at Glasgow Central, London Paddington and London Waterloo. However, Network Rail told Railnews that Paddington, Waterloo and King’s Cross are special cases, because of recent or current major changes to the retail layouts.

The figures were compiled from the results of retailers operating more than 46,000 sq m of retail space in over 500 units at the 16 stations owned and operated by Network Rail, which are used by a total of more than 1 billion passengers annually.

These figures show the changes in trading levels at most NR managed stations, reflecting the changes between Q3 2011 and Q3 2012.

Birmingham NS  +2.79%
L. Charing Cross  +1.15%
Edinburgh W.  +5.29%
L. Euston  +5.82%
L. Fenchurch St  +0.10%
Glasgow C.  -2.92%
Leeds  +4.61%
Liverpool Lime St  +2.61%
L. Liverpool St  +1.82%
London Bridge  +23.27%
Manchester P.  +2.83%
L. Paddington  -5.60%
L. Victoria  +7.32%
L. Waterloo -1.41%

London King’s Cross is a special case. Network Rail said the station had seen 'a huge increase in retail sales following the opening of the spectacular new western concourse in March 2012. During the third quarter, station retailers generated over £10 million in sales, which represents a 137 per cent increase on the same period the previous year when the number of retail units in the old southern concourse was significantly lower'.

David Biggs, director of property at Network Rail, added: “These are great results for our retailers, and we are delighted with the recent survey findings from Passenger Focus which show passenger satisfaction has soared particularly at King’s Cross and Waterloo, where we have made significant investment in providing a better environment and improved retail facilities for passengers.”