Northern has released a map showing which of its routes are the most popular with students for their commute to schools and colleges.

Stations with the highest numbers of student commuters are located in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire & West Yorkshire.

These are marked on the accompanying maps in green.

Stations in Merseyside, Tyne & Wear, South and East Yorkshire have far fewer student commuters, and these are shown on the map in red.

Although Derbyshire and North Yorkshire have individual pockets of large numbers of student commuters, the trend isn’t widespread in those counties.

Northern has released the information in its effort to encourage more students to switch from road to rail and its campaign to encourage students to invest in a U16 Education Season Ticket before the new school term starts next week.

The U16 Education Season Ticket scheme provides students with a 75% reduction in the cost of their commute and is operated by Northern in partnership with 166 secondary schools and university technical colleges throughout the North of England.

For more information about the  U16 Education Season Ticket and details of how to apply for one are online at www.northernrailway.co.uk/tickets/educational-season.

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “It’s interesting to see just how much a difference there is between the counties of students that use the train to get to school.

“We want to encourage as many as possible to make the switch from road to rail – and with 75% off the cost of their commute, U16 Education Season Tickets offer one of the most generous discounts of any ticket scheme in the country.”

The most popular stations for student commuters in each county are:

Cumbria (38 stations)

• Arnside, Grange Over Sands, Kents Bank, Cark & Cartmel, Ulverston, Dalton, Roose, Barrow-in-Furness, Askam, Kirkby-in-Furness, Foxfield, Green Road, Millom, Silecroft, Bootle, Ravenglass, Drigg, Seascale, Sellafield, Braystones, Nethertown, St. Bees, Corkickle, Whitehaven, Parton, Harrington, Workington, Flimby, Maryport, Aspatria, Wigton, Dalston, Carlisle, Windermere, Staveley, Burneside, Kendal and Oxenholme Lake District.

Lancashire (23 stations)

• Southport, Meols Cop, Bescar Lane, New Lane, Burscough Bridge, Hoscar, Parbold, Appley Bridge, Gathurst, Wennington, Silverdale, Carnforth, Morecambe, Heysham Harbour, Bare Lane, Lancaster, Clitheroe, Whalley, Langho, Ramsgreave & Wilpshire, Blackburn, Darwen and Entwistle.

Greater Manchester (23 stations)

• Broadbottom, Hattersley, Godley, Newton For Hyde, Flowery Field, Guide Bridge, Bromley Cross, Hall i’ th’ Wood’, Bolton, Westhoughton, Wigan, Newton-le-Willows, Patricroft, Eccles, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly, Levenshulme, Heaton Chapel, Stockport, Cheadle Hulme, Navigation Road, Altrincham and Hale.

West Yorkshire (20 stations)

• Steeton & Silsden, Keighley, Crossflatts, Bingley, Saltaire, Shipley, Frizinghall, Bradford Forster Square, Baildon, Guiseley, Menston, Burley-in-Wharfedale, Ben Rhydding, Ilkley, Apperley Bridge, Kirkstall Forge, Leeds, Burley Park, Headingley and Horsforth.

Cheshire (20 stations)

• Chester, Mouldsworth, Delamere, Cuddington, Greenbank, Northwich, Lostock Gralam, Plumbley, Knutsford, Mobberley, Ashley, Crewe, Sandbach, Holmes Chapel, Goostrey, Chelford, Alderley Edge, Wilmslow, Styal and Handforth.

North Yorkshire (12 stations)

• Skipton, Cononley, Weeton, Pannal, Hornbeam Park, Harrogate, Starbeck, Knaresborough, Cattal, Hammerton, Poppleton and York.

Derbyshire (9 stations)

• Glossop, Hadfield, Dinting, New Mills, Furness Vale, Whaley Bridge, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Dove Holes and Buxton.