List of busiest railway stations in Great Britain (2019–20) explained

This is a list of the busiest railway stations in Great Britain on the National Rail network for the 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 financial year. The dataset for the year was the last to show typical patterns of mobility prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, with many major stations falling down the ranking the following year. During 2019–20 there were 1,739 million passenger journeys on the network.[1] London Waterloo was the busiest station during the year, marking 16 years at the top of the ranking.

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 2019–20. The data count entries and exits at any station. Only tickets sold for National Rail services are included. As such, London Underground, special tours, local light rail and heritage railway tickets are excluded. 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. Data for 2019–20 was published on 1 December 2020.[2]

All stations

Only stations with annual entries and exits above 10 million passengers are shown.

RankRailway stationAnnual entries/exits
(millions)
2019-20
Annual interchanges
(millions)
2019-20
LocationMain servicesNumber of platformsInterchange systemsImage
1London Waterloo86.9046.310 LondonSouth West Main Line
West of England Main Line
[3] London Underground
2London Victoria73.5595.756LondonBrighton Main Line
Chatham Main Line
London Underground
3London Liverpool Street65.9854.351LondonGreat Eastern Main Line
West Anglia Main Line
London Underground, London Overground, TfL Rail
4London Bridge63.09510.678LondonSouth Eastern Main Line
Brighton Main Line
Thameslink
London Underground
5Birmingham New Street46.5116.994BirminghamWest Coast Main Line
Cross Country Route
6London Paddington44.872.98LondonGreat Western Main Line
South Wales Main Line
Reading to Plymouth Line
[4] London Underground, TfL Rail
7London Euston44.7774.357LondonWest Coast Main LineLondon Underground, London Overground
8Stratford41.9124.882LondonGreat Eastern Main Line
Lea Valley Lines
[5] London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, TfL Rail
936.0404.777LondonMidland Main Line
Thameslink
Eurostar
South Eastern High Speed
London Underground
10London King's Cross32.5322.412LondonEast Coast Main Line[6] London Underground
11Glasgow Central32.465-GlasgowWest Coast Main LineGlasgow Subway
12Manchester Piccadilly32.199-ManchesterWest Coast Main LineManchester Metrolink
13Leeds31.021-LeedsEast Coast Main Line
Midland Main Line
Cross Country Route
14Highbury and Islington29.3993.397LondonNorth London Line
East London LineNorthern City Line
London Underground, London Overground
15London Charing Cross28.3440.833LondonSouth Eastern Main LineLondon Underground
16Clapham Junction28.89226.903LondonSouth West Main Line
West of England Main Line
Brighton Main Line
London Overground
17East Croydon25.0065.463LondonBrighton Main LineCroydon Tramlink
18Edinburgh Waverley23.0881.792EdinburghEast Coast Main LineEdinburgh Trams
19Canada Water24.997<0.001LondonEast London LineLondon Underground
20Gatwick Airport21.0511.527Gatwick AirportBrighton Main Line
Gatwick Express
21Vauxhall19.997-LondonSouth West Main LineLondon Underground
22London Cannon Street18.513-LondonSouth Eastern Main LineLondon Underground
23London Fenchurch Street17.717-LondonLondon, Tilbury & Southend Line
24Brighton17.3561.660BrightonBrighton Main Line
West Coastway Line
East Coastway Line
25Wimbledon17.2821.076LondonSouth West Main Line[7] London Underground, Croydon Tramlink
26Reading16.753-ReadingGreat Western Main Line
27Glasgow Queen Street16.686-GlasgowGlasgow to EdinburghGlasgow Subway
28Farringdon16.4970.399LondonThameslinkLondon Underground
29Liverpool Central16.4550.649LiverpoolMerseyrail services (Wirral and Northern lines)
30Liverpool Lime Street16.0221.190LiverpoolWest Coast Main Line
Liverpool to Manchester Lines
31London Marylebone15.7960.853LondonChiltern Main LineLondon Underground
32Barking13.8310.627LondonLondon, Tilbury and Southend lineLondon Underground
33Whitechapel13.8310.627LondonLondon OvergroundLondon Underground
34Blackfriars12.9932.932LondonThameslinkLondon Underground
35Cardiff Central12.6712.033CardiffSouth Wales Main Line
36Bristol Temple Meads11.6191.632BristolSouth Wales Main Line
Cross Country Route
Wessex Main Line
37Cambridge11.6000.627CambridgeWest Anglia Main Line
38Richmond11.0031.539LondonLondon OvergroundLondon Underground
39West Ham10.181-LondonLondon, Tilbury and Southend lineLondon Underground
40Sheffield10.0951.050SheffieldCross Country Route
Midland Main Line
Sheffield Supertram
41York10.0850.775YorkCross Country Route
East Coast Main Line
42Waterloo East10.0750.863LondonSouth Eastern Main Line
North Kent Line
London Underground (close by)
43Lewisham10.0052.564LondonMid-Kent LineDocklands Light Railway

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Office of Rail and Road . Estimates of station usage 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 . 24 November 2022 . 13 December 2022.
  2. Web site: Estimates of Station Usage 2019-20 . Office of Rail and Road . 13 December 2022 . 1 December 2020.
  3. Platforms 25 and 26 are part of the Underground
  4. Platforms 15 and 16 are part of the Underground, platform 13 closed
  5. 4 and 7 disused, 3A, 4A, 4B, and 10A exist
  6. Starts at 0
  7. 10a and 10b are Croydon Tramlink