Most and least used railway stations in Britain revealed

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The most used station recorded 80.4 million entries and exits while the least used recorded only 34.

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Britain’s most used railway stations

Liverpool Street has replaced Waterloo as the busiest railway station in Britain, reveal figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

The number of entries and exits at Liverpool Street was 80.4 million in the year to the end of March 2023.

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The year-on-year increase of around 50 million was attributed to the opening of the Elizabeth line railway, which serves the station.

The Elizabeth line also caused Paddington to rise to second place with 59.2 million entries and exits.

Waterloo, the previous busiest station, fell to third place with 57.8 million entries and exits.

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ORR director of planning and performance Feras Alshaker said: “The full opening of the Elizabeth line has changed the way people travel into and across the capital.

“Waterloo had been the busiest station in Britain for all but one of the previous 18 years.”

Outside of London, the busiest stations were Birmingham New Street (30.7 million), Leeds (24.0 million) and Manchester Piccadilly (23.6 million).

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Glasgow Central was the most used station in Scotland (20.8 million) and Cardiff Central topped the list in Wales (10.2 million).

Britain’s least used railway stations

The least used station that was open throughout the whole year was Denton, Greater Manchester, with 34 entries and exits.

Only two entries and exits were recorded at Teesside Airport station, but its once-a-week Sunday service was suspended in May 2022 after the platform was classified as unsafe.

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


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