Britain’s most and least-used railway stations revealed

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The most used station served over 40 million passengers. The least used only recorded 40.

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London Waterloo has regained its title of Britain’s most frequently used railway station.

The Office of Rail and Road said the station was used by an estimated 41.4 million passengers in the 12 months to the end of March.

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The total is up from 12.2 million during the previous year, but was below half the estimate of 86.9 million in 2019/20.

London Waterloo was Britain’s busiest station for 16 years until it slipped to number four in 2020/21 as passenger numbers plummeted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In Scotland, Glasgow Central remained the most used station, with 15.3 million passengers, up from 5.3 million last year but down from 32.5 million two years ago.

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Cardiff Central kept its status as the busiest station in Wales, with 7.5 million entries and exits.

That was more than three times as many as the two million in 2020/21, but remained down from the 12.7 million in 2019/20.

The least used railway station in 2021/22 was Elton and Orston in Nottinghamshire, with just 40 recorded entries and exits.

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ORR director of planning and performance Feras Alshaker said: “It is heartening to see passengers return to travelling by rail following what was a difficult period for the industry during the pandemic.

“There’s still some way to go in order for station usage figures to return to pre-pandemic levels.

“Once again it is important to thank all those in the rail industry, who continue to work hard to help people travel safely and with confidence.”

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