Rail travel through Perth and Kinross fell by nearly five per cent in the last financial year as COVID-19 started to bite.
The number of passengers exiting and entering at the seven stations in the region in 2019/20 was 1,335,592, according to the latest data from the Office of Rail and Road.
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That was a drop of 4.7 per cent on 2018/19.
The figures include the month of March when the population was told to work from home if they could ahead of the eventual lockdown on March 23.
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The drop would have been even worse if the Solheim Cup had not brought thousands of people to Gleneagles in September of last year.
Gleneagles was one of the few stations across the UK to record an increase, with numbers rising by over 12 per cent from 77,998 to 87,772.
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Perth recorded 1,059,278 passengers, down from 1,112,068 the year before - a drop of 4.7 per cent.
The region’s second biggest station in terms of passengers was Pitlochry, with 121,060.
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This was a drop of 3.2 per cent on the 2018/19 figure.
Dunkeld and Birnam enjoyed a better year, with the 36,638 passengers representing a drop of just 0.9 per cent on the previous 12 months.
However, both Blair Atholl and Rannoch recorded big drops.
In Blair Atholl, the figure dropped from 21,008 to 18,388, or 12.5 per cent, while in Rannoch the figure fell by 17.5 per cent to 7290.
The region’s smallest station is Invergowrie. It recorded 5166 passengers, down from 5722 the year before.
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Next year’s figures are likely to be even worse with residents being advised to avoid travelling and public transport if they can.
The figures have been released in the same week calls were made for a new train station to be created in Kinross.
