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, and had been the busiest for over a decade (barring 2020-21, where Stratford was briefly the busiest).
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.
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 | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | London Liverpool Street | 80.448 | 32.165 | London | 19 [note 1] | London Underground | ||
2 | London Paddington | 59.182 | 23.870 | London |
| 15 [note 2] | London Underground | |
3 | London Waterloo | 57.789 | 41.426 | London | 24 [note 3] | London Underground | ||
4 | London Bridge | 47.657 | 33.309 | London | 15 | London Underground | ||
5 | London Victoria | 45.563 | 36.776 | London |
| 19 | London Underground | |
6 | Stratford | 44.136 | 28.182 | London |
| 9 [note 4] |
| |
7 | Tottenham Court Road | 34.877 | N/A | London | Elizabeth line | 2 [note 5] | London Underground | |
8 | London St Pancras International | 33.296 | 18.995 | London |
| 15 |
| |
9 | Farringdon | 31.459 | 6.865 | London |
| 4 [note 5] | London Underground | |
10 | London Euston | 31.318 | 23.097 | London |
| 18 | London Underground | |
11 | Birmingham New Street | 30.726 | 22.682 | Birmingham |
| 12 | West Midlands Metro | |
12 | Leeds | 23.964 | 19.263 | Leeds |
| 18 | ||
13 | Manchester Piccadilly | 23.558 | 19.581 | Manchester | West Coast Main Line | 14 | Manchester Metrolink | |
14 | Whitechapel | 23.307 | 9.273 | London |
| 4 [note 5] | London Underground | |
15 | London King's Cross | 23.287 | 20.476 | London | East Coast Main Line | 11 [note 6] | London Underground | |
16 | Clapham Junction | 20.790 | 17.397 | London |
| 17 | ||
17 | Glasgow Central | 20.767 | 15.322 | Glasgow | West Coast Main Line | 17 | Glasgow Subway [note 7] | |
18 | Highbury & Islington | 20.601 | 17.816 | London |
| 6 [note 5] | London Underground | |
19 | Bond Street | 19.400 | N/A | London | Elizabeth line | 2 [note 5] | London Underground | |
20 | East Croydon | 18.514 | 14.504 | London |
| 6 | Tramlink |
Waterloo is a London Underground station located beneath Waterloo National Rail station. As of 2022, it is the 2nd busiest station on the London Underground, with 68.72 million users. It is served by four lines: the Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern and Waterloo & City lines.
Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a major central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the terminus of the West Anglia Main Line to Cambridge, the Great Eastern Main Line to Norwich, commuter trains serving east London and destinations in the East of England, and the Stansted Express service to Stansted Airport.
Tottenham Court Road is a London Underground and Elizabeth line station in St Giles in the West End of London. The station is served by the Central line, the Elizabeth line and the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line. The station is located at St Giles Circus, the junction of Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street, New Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road and is in Travelcard Zone 1, with a second entrance at Dean Street.
Finsbury Park is an intermodal interchange station in North London for London Underground, National Rail and London Buses services. The station is the third busiest Underground station outside Zone 1, with over 33 million passengers using the station in 2019.
Highbury & Islington is an interchange station in the London Borough of Islington, North London for London Underground, London Overground and National Rail services
Stratford is a major multi-level interchange station serving the district of Stratford and the mixed-use development known as Stratford City, in the London Borough of Newham, East London for London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and Elizabeth line services. National Rail services also operate on the West Anglia Main Line and the Great Eastern Main Line, 4 miles 3 chains (6.5 km) from Liverpool Street.
Ealing Broadway is a major single-level interchange station located in Ealing, in the London Borough of Ealing, West London for London Underground services and also Elizabeth line services on the National Rail Great Western Main Line.
Farringdon is an interchange station located in Clerkenwell, London, England, in the London Borough of Islington, just outside the boundary of the City of London for London Underground, Elizabeth line and National Rail services.
Barking is an interchange station serving the town of Barking, east London. It is served by London Underground, London Overground and National Rail main line services. It is located on Station Parade, in the town centre.
Kensington (Olympia) is an interchange station located in Kensington, in West London for London Overground and National Rail services. Limited London Underground services also run here.
Essex Road is a National Rail station in Canonbury in Greater London, England, and is on the Northern City Line between Old Street and Highbury & Islington, 1 mile 59 chains (2.8 km) down the line from Moorgate, and is in Travelcard Zone 2. The station is at the junction of Essex Road, Canonbury Road and New North Road, with the present entrance on Canonbury Road. Operated by Great Northern, it is the only deep-level underground station in London served exclusively by National Rail trains. Between 1933 and 1975 the station was operated as part of the London Underground, as a short branch of the Northern line. Between 1922 and 1948 the station name was Canonbury & Essex Road. The name reverted to the original form in 1948.
Walthamstow Central is an interchange station located in Walthamstow in the London Borough of Waltham Forest for London Underground, London Overground and London Buses services.
Blackhorse Road is an interchange station, located at the junction of Blackhorse Road/Blackhorse Lane with Forest Road in Walthamstow, London for London Underground and London Overground services.
West Ruislip is a station on Ickenham High Road on the borders of Ickenham and western Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon in Greater London, England,formerly in Middlesex. It is served by London Underground (LU) and National Rail trains on different platforms. It is the western terminus of the London Underground Central line's West Ruislip branch; Ruislip Gardens is the next station towards central London. The Central line and Chiltern Railways platforms and ticket office hall are managed by LU. The closest station on the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines is Ickenham, 1.1 miles (1.8 km) from West Ruislip Station.
Greenford is a London Underground and National Rail station in Greenford, Greater London, and is owned and managed by London Underground. It is the terminus of the National Rail Greenford branch line, 2 miles 40 chains down the line from West Ealing and 9 miles 6 chains measured from London Paddington. On the Central line, it is between Perivale and Northolt stations while on National Rail, the next station to the south on the branch is South Greenford.
Harrow-on-the-Hill is an interchange railway station in Harrow, served by suburban London Underground Metropolitan line services and commuter National Rail services on the London–Aylesbury line. It is 9 miles 18 chains down the line from London Marylebone. Harrow-on-the-Hill is the final Metropolitan line stop from Central London before the line splits with the main branch towards Moor Park and the diverged Uxbridge branch towards Uxbridge. It is in Travelcard Zone 5.