List of busiest railway stations in Great Britain

This is a list of the busiest railway stations in Great Britain on the National Rail network for the 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 financial year. The dataset records patterns of mobility for the first full year after travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom were completely eliminated, with increased levels of mobility when compared with the 2021–22 data although still not fully recovered from 2019–20. During 2022–23 there were 1,385 million passenger journeys on the network, compared to 990 million in 2021–22 and 1,739 million in 2019–20.^[1] The opening of the Elizabeth line during 2022 increased passenger numbers at several stations and caused new entries to appear in the ranking at Tottenham Court Road (7th) and Bond Street (19th). The busiest station was London Liverpool Street, replacing London Waterloo which was top of the ranking the previous year.^{[note 1]}

Methodology

The figures are collected by the Office of Rail and Road, and are estimates based on ticket usage data use of an Origin Destination Matrix, a comprehensive matrix of rail flows between stations throughout Great Britain in the financial year of 2023–23. The data count entries and exits at any station. Note that the data covers mainland Great Britain and surrounding small islands (such as the Isle of Wight), not the United Kingdom, and so exclude tickets within Northern Ireland and Eurostar. There are various further limits to the data due to the variety of ticketing options available on rail services within the UK; these are outlined in full in the report on the data.^[2] Only tickets sold for National Rail services are included; some stations may also be served by underground metro or urban light rail networks. Stations serving solely the London Underground, light rail, special tours or heritage railways are therefore excluded. The London Overground and Elizabeth line are included in the data. Data for 2022–23 was published on 14 December 2023.

All stations

During 2022–23 there were 18 stations with more than 20 million entries and exits, compared to 9 stations the previous year and 20 in 2019–20.

Rank	Railway station	Annual entries/exits (millions) 2022–23^[3]	Annual entries/exits (millions) 2021–22	Location	Main services	Number of platforms	Interchange systems
1	London Liverpool Street	80.448	32.165	London	Great Eastern Main Line West Anglia Main Line Elizabeth line London Overground	19^{[note 2]}	London Underground
2	London Paddington	59.182	23.870	London	Great Western Main Line South Wales Main Line Reading to Plymouth Line Elizabeth line	15^{[note 3]}	London Underground
3	London Waterloo	57.789	41.426	London	South West Main Line West of England Main Line	24^{[note 4]}	London Underground
4	London Bridge	47.657	33.309	London	South Eastern Main Line Brighton Main Line Thameslink	15	London Underground
5	London Victoria	45.563	36.776	London	Brighton Main Line Chatham Main Line	19	London Underground
6	Stratford	44.136	28.182	London	Great Eastern Main Line Lea Valley lines Elizabeth line London Overground	9^{[note 5]}	London Underground Docklands Light Railway
7	Tottenham Court Road	34.877	N/A	London	Elizabeth line	2^{[note 6]}	London Underground
8	London St Pancras International	33.296	18.995	London	Midland Main Line Thameslink High Speed 1	15	London Underground Eurostar
9	Farringdon	31.459	6.865	London	Thameslink Elizabeth line	4^{[note 6]}	London Underground
10	London Euston	31.318	23.097	London	West Coast Main Line London Overground	18	London Underground
11	Birmingham New Street	30.726	22.682	Birmingham	West Coast Main Line Cross Country Route	12	West Midlands Metro
12	Leeds	23.964	19.263	Leeds	East Coast Main Line Midland Main Line Cross Country Route	18
13	Manchester Piccadilly	23.558	19.581	Manchester	West Coast Main Line	14	Manchester Metrolink
14	Whitechapel	23.307	9.273	London	London Overground Elizabeth line	4^{[note 6]}	London Underground
15	London King's Cross	23.287	20.476	London	East Coast Main Line	11^{[note 7]}	London Underground
16	Clapham Junction	20.790	17.397	London	South West Main Line West of England Main Line Brighton Main Line London Overground	17
17	Glasgow Central	20.767	15.322	Glasgow	West Coast Main Line	17	Glasgow Subway^{[note 8]}
18	Highbury & Islington	20.601	17.816	London	Northern City Line London Overground	6^{[note 6]}	London Underground
19	Bond Street	19.400	N/A	London	Elizabeth line	2^{[note 6]}	London Underground
20	East Croydon	18.514	14.504	London	Brighton Main Line Thameslink	6	Tramlink

Notes

^ Waterloo had been the busiest station for over a decade, except for during 2020-21 when Stratford was the busiest station.
^ One platform was removed and two added with the opening of the Elizabeth line
^ Excluding London Underground, platform 13 closed, two platforms were added with the opening of the Elizabeth line
^ Platforms 25 and 26 are part of the London Underground
^ Excluding London Underground and Docklands Light Railway, 4 and 7 disused, 3A, 4A, 4B, and 10A exist
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Excluding London Underground
^ Platform numbering starts at 0
^ St Enoch station is close by

References

^ "Estimates of station usage 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023" (PDF). Office of Rail and Road. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ "Station usage quality and methodology report" (PDF). Office of Rail and Road data portal. Office of Rail and Road. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
^ "Estimates of station usage". ORR Data Portal. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

External links

Station usage - Main page

[Waterloo-2] Waterloo had been the busiest station for over a decade, except for during 2020-21 when Stratford was the busiest station.

[LST-5] One platform was removed and two added with the opening of the Elizabeth line

[PAD-6] Excluding London Underground, platform 13 closed, two platforms were added with the opening of the Elizabeth line

[WAT-7] Platforms 25 and 26 are part of the London Underground

[SRA-8] Excluding London Underground and Docklands Light Railway, 4 and 7 disused, 3A, 4A, 4B, and 10A exist

[joint_tube-9] Excluding London Underground

[KGX-10] Platform numbering starts at 0

[GLC-11] St Enoch station is close by

[1] "Estimates of station usage 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023" (PDF). Office of Rail and Road. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

[3] "Station usage quality and methodology report" (PDF). Office of Rail and Road data portal. Office of Rail and Road. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.

[4] "Estimates of station usage". ORR Data Portal. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

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