List of busiest railway stations in Great Britain (2020–21) explained

This is a list of the busiest railway stations in Great Britain on the National Rail network for the 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 financial year. The dataset records patterns of mobility during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom with significantly reduced levels of mobility compared with the previous year. Extended periods of significantly reduced commuting and long-distance travel caused many major stations to drop in the ranking. During 2020–21 there were 388 million passenger journeys on the network, compared to 1,739 million in 2019–20.^[1] Stratford Regional in London was the busiest station during the year, replacing London Waterloo which had been top of the ranking for 16 years.

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 2020–21.^[2] 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.^[3] 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. Data for 2020–21 was published on 25 November 2021.

All stations

Only stations with annual entries and exits above 2 million passengers are shown. There were 5 stations with more than 10 million entries and exits, compared to 43 stations the previous year.

Rank	Railway station	Annual entries/exits(millions) 2020–21	Annual interchanges(millions) 2020–21	Location	Main services	Number of platforms	Interchange systems
1	Stratford	13.985	1.746	London	Great Eastern Main Line Lea Valley Lines	^[4]	London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, London Overground
2	London Victoria	13.791	1.385	London	Brighton Main Line Chatham Main Line		London Underground
3	London Bridge	13.764	2.361	London	South Eastern Main Line Brighton Main Line Thameslink		London Underground
4	London Waterloo	12.215	1.375	London	South West Main Line West of England Main Line	^[5]	London Underground
5	London Liverpool Street	11.212	1.131	London	Great Eastern Main Line West Anglia Main Line
6	Highbury and Islington	8.661	1.116	London	North London Line East London Line Northern City Line		London Underground, London Overground
7	Clapham Junction	8.371	6.824	London	South West Main Line West of England Main Line Brighton Main Line		London Overground
8	Birmingham New Street	7.351	1.024	Birmingham	West Coast Main Line Cross Country Route		West Midlands Metro
9	Barking	6.743	0.263	London	London, Tilbury and Southend line		London Underground
10	East Croydon	6.695	0.972	London	Brighton Main Line		Croydon Tramlink
11	London Euston	6.607	0.843	London	West Coast Main Line		London Underground, London Overground
12	London Paddington	6.392	0.626	London	Great Western Main Line South Wales Main Line Reading to Plymouth Line	^[6]	London Underground
13	London St Pancras International	6.363	0.926	London	Midland Main Line Thameslink Eurostar South Eastern High Speed		London Underground
14	Leeds	5.854	0.545	Leeds	East Coast Main Line Midland Main Line Cross Country Route
15	Canada Water	5.576	0.000	London	East London Line		London Underground
16	London Charing Cross	5.373	0.092	London	South Eastern Main Line		London Underground
17	Glasgow Central	5.325	0.761	Glasgow	West Coast Main Line		Glasgow Subway (close by)
18	Manchester Piccadilly	5.188	0.374	Manchester	West Coast Main Line		Manchester Metrolink
19	Vauxhall	4.987	0.000	London	South West Main Line		London Underground
20	London King's Cross	4.668	0.430	London	East Coast Main Line	^[7]	London Underground
21	Wimbledon	4.433	0.303	London	South West Main Line	^[8]	London Underground, Croydon Tramlink
22	Brighton	4.149	0.367	Brighton	Brighton Main Line West Coastway LineEast Coastway Line
23	Whitechapel	4.142	0.000	London	London Overground		London Underground
24	West Ham	4.012	0.003	London	London, Tilbury and Southend line		London Underground,Docklands Light Railway
25	Liverpool Central	3.606	0.172	Liverpool	Merseyrail services (Wirral and Northern lines)
26	Liverpool Lime Street	3.511	0.418	Liverpool	West Coast Main Line Liverpool to Manchester Lines		Merseyrail Wirral line
27	London Fenchurch Street	3.200	0.396	London	London, Tilbury & Southend Line
28	Romford	3.133	0.223	London	Great Eastern Main Line Romford to Upminster Line	5	London Overground
29	Reading	2.963	0.680	Reading	Great Western Main Line
30	Edinburgh Waverley	2.958	0.203	Edinburgh	East Coast Main Line West Coast Main Line		Edinburgh Trams
31	Willesden Junction	2.796	0.855	London	North London Line West London Line Watford DC Line	5	London Underground, London Overground
32	Richmond	2.699	0.329	London	London Overground		London Underground
33	London Cannon Street	2.684	0.129	London	South Eastern Main Line		London Underground
34	Tottenham Hale	2.652	0.178	London	West Anglia Main Line	3	London Underground
35	Farringdon	2.643	0.118	London	Thameslink		London Underground
36	Lewisham	2.555	0.564	London	Mid-Kent Line		Docklands Light Railway
37	Ilford	2.536	0.010	London	Great Eastern Main Line	4^[9]
38	Seven Sisters	2.359	0.005	London	Lea Valley Lines West Anglia Main Line	5	London Underground, London Overground
39	Denmark Hill	2.343	0.182	London	Thameslink Greenwich Park branch Line Chatham Main Line South London Line	4	London Overground
40	Cambridge	2.301	0.123	Cambridge	West Anglia Main Line
41	Glasgow Queen Street	2.299	0.267	Glasgow	Glasgow to Edinburgh		Glasgow Subway (close by)
42	Shepherd's Bush	2.272	0.004	London	West London Line	2	London Underground (close by), London Overground
43	Old Street	2.231	0.000	London	Northern City Line	4	London Underground
44	Waterloo East	2.194	0.255	London	South Eastern Main Line North Kent Line		London Underground (close by)
45	Dalston Kingsland	2.130	0.000	London	North London Line	2
46	Blackfriars	2.100	0.581	London	Thameslink		London Underground
47	Ealing Broadway	2.066	0.007	London	Great Western Main Line	9	London Underground
48	Balham	2.044	0.129	London	Brighton Main Line Crystal Palace line West London Route	4	London Underground
49	London Marylebone	2.035	0.111	London	Chiltern Main Line		London Underground
50	Bristol Temple Meads	2.033	0.277	Bristol	South Wales Main Line Cross Country Route Wessex Main Line
51	Peckham Rye	2.029	0.725	London	Catford Loop Line Greenwich Park branch Line Portsmouth Line South London Line	4	London Overground
52	Bromley South	2.025	0.246	London	Chatham Main Line Maidstone East Line Bromley South Line Catford Loop Line	4
53	Finsbury Park	2.014	0.669	London	Northern City Line Thameslink	8	London Underground

Below this, station usage was as follows, per 2020–21 ridership data:

90 had reported between 1 and 2 million passengers
171 had reported between 500,001 and 1 million passengers
333 had reported between 200,001 and 500,000 passengers
298 had reported between 100,001 and 200,000 passengers
360 had reported between 50,001 and 100,000 passengers
713 had reported between 10,001 and 50,000 passengers
371 had reported between 1,001 and 10,000 passengers
120 had reported between 101 and 1,000 passengers
59 stations reported fewer than 100 passengers.

London terminal

This is a list of the busiest stations in the "London terminals" station group.

Rank	Station	Annual entries/exits (millions) 2020–21	Annual interchanges (millions) 2020–21
1	Victoria	13.791	1.385
2		13.764	2.361
3		12.215	1.375
3		11.212	1.131
4		6.607	0.843
5		6.392	0.626
6		6.363	0.926
7		5.373	0.092
8		4.987	0.000
9	King's Cross	4.668	0.430
10		3.200	0.396
11		2.684	0.129
12		2.643	0.118
13		2.231	0.000
14		2.194	0.255
15		2.100	0.581
16		2.035	0.111
17		1.935	0.232
18		0.974	0.000
19		0.667	0.049

Other London stations

This is a list of the 20 busiest stations in Greater London, excluding those listed above under the London termini.

Rank	Station	Annual entries/exits (millions) 2020–21	Annual interchanges (millions) 2020–21
1	Stratford	13.985	1.746
2	Highbury & Islington	8.661	1.116
3	Clapham Junction	8.371	6.824
4	Barking	6.743	0.263
5	East Croydon	6.695	0.972
6	Canada Water	5.576	0.000
7	Wimbledon	4.433	0.303
8	Whitechapel	4.142	0.000
9	West Ham	4.012	0.003
10	Romford	3.133	0.223
11	Willesden Junction	2.796	0.855
12	Richmond	2.699	0.329
13	Tottenham Hale	2.652	0.178
14	Lewisham	2.555	0.564
15	Ilford	2.536	0.010
16	Seven Sisters	2.359	0.005
17	Denmark Hill	2.343	0.182
18	Shepherd's Bush	2.272	0.004
19	Dalston Kingsland	2.130	0.000
20	Ealing Broadway	2.066	0.007

Stations outside London

This is a list of the 20 busiest stations in Great Britain outside London.

Rank	Railway Station	Annual entries/exits (millions) 2020–21	Annual interchanges (millions) 2020–21
1	Birmingham New Street	7.351	1.024
2	Leeds	5.854	0.545
3	Glasgow Central	5.325	0.761
4	Manchester Piccadilly	5.188	0.374
5	Brighton	4.149	0.367
6	Liverpool Central	3.606	0.172
7	Liverpool Lime Street	3.511	0.418
8	Reading	2.963	0.680
9	Edinburgh Waverley	2.958	0.203
10	Cambridge	2.301	0.123
11	Glasgow Queen Street	2.299	0.267
12	Bristol Temple Meads	2.033	0.277
13	Cardiff Central	1.975	0.240
14	Sheffield	1.907	0.179
15	York	1.837	0.116
16	Coventry	1.747	0.133
17	Chelmsford	1.717	0.011
18	Gatwick Airport	1.686	0.319
19	Watford Junction	1.680	0.091
20	Moorfields	1.613	0.335

External links

Station usage - Main page

Notes and References

Web site: Office of Rail and Road . Estimates of station usage 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 . 24 November 2022 . 13 December 2022.
Web site: Estimates of station usage. Office of Rail and Road data portal. Office of Rail and Road. 2022-01-13.
Web site: 2021-11-25. Station usage quality and methodology report. Office of Rail and Road data portal. Office of Rail and Road. 2022-01-13.
4 and 7 disused, 3A, 4A, 4B, and 10A exist
Platforms 25 and 26 are part of the Underground
Platforms 15 and 16 are part of the Underground, platform 13 closed
Starts at 0
10a and 10b are Croydon Tramlink
4 operational; 1 disused