Summary:
NSE area
Not SWT
Not RR (and some distance from nearest station)
Not suburb (has suburbs)
Never had HST service
At least one station name = TOWN/CITY + SUFFIX
Funnily enough, my brother suggested Crawley (I tried it on him as well). He also said Basildon... Yes, I'm stupid enough to use the same one twice
Right then, the answer. It is indeed in one of Kent or Essex, going by ceremonial county. The station data (inclusive of any interchange estimates, in brackets) is below.
The correct answer is:
Southend-on-Sea
Shoeburyness 599,069
Thorpe Bay 751,675
Southend East 1,459,251
Southend Central 1,904,286 (plus 25,369)
Westcliff 1,026,443
Chalkwell 1,312,625
Leigh-on-Sea 1,791,120
Southend Victoria 3,978,633 (plus 735)
Prittlewell 113,265
Southend Airport 0 (not yet open, and technically outside Southend anyway)
TOTAL: 12,936,727 (plus 26,104)
Tickets to/from "Southend Stations" are usually counted as journeys to/from Victoria
...
Well, that's that over with. I'll go away and conjure up something a bit fairer for next time.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Time for an easier one, methinks.
My town may be small, but it is well-known in railway (and sporting!) circles. My only station has three platforms, yet four platform faces. To the immediate west, the line splits into the main route and a branch to the south; the branch running on a sharp curve. The next station to the west on the main route is on the outskirts of a New Town. There is a similar junction, if not station, a few miles to the east.