Elizabeth line dominates Great Britain’s top 10 stations – Rail UK

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has today confirmed that London Liverpool Street station has retained its title as Great Britain’s most used railway station in 2023-24, gaining more than 14 million entries and exits since the previous year. Denton railway station in Greater Manchester becomes the least used station in Great Britain, at 54 entries and exits.

The impact of the Elizabeth line continues to drive massive increases in station usage, with the latest stats being the first to show a whole year’s worth of data. After entering the top 10 for the first time in the previous year, Tottenham Court Road leaps four places, gaining just under 30 million entries and exits to take third place from London Waterloo.

London St Pancras drops out of the top 10, while Bond Street is a new entry, going from 19th most used last year, to ninth this year. London Paddington retains second place by adding an additional six million entries and exits.

The busiest stations in England outside of London were Birmingham New Street (33.3 million), Manchester Piccadilly (25.8 million) and Leeds (24.9 million).

The busiest stations in Scotland were Glasgow Central (25.0 million), Edinburgh Waverley (21.3 million) and Glasgow Queen Street (14.5 million)

The busiest stations in Wales were Cardiff Central (11.5 million), Newport (2.7 million), and Swansea (2.2 million).

Denton in Greater Manchester, with just two services per week, is the least used station in Great Britain (and England), recording 54 entries and exits in the latest year, up from 34 entries and exits. In Wales, the least used station was Roman Bridge with 680 entries and exits, taking the title from Sugar Loaf station. Scotland’s least used station was Kildonan, with 240 entries and exits, beating out Scotscalder (with 242 entries and exits), the least used last year.

Two stations – Stanlow and Thornton, and Teesside Airport – recorded zero entries and exits this year, but both had services suspended for the entire year, so they have been excluded from the below rankings.

Feras Alshaker, director, planning and performance at the ORR, said: “These statistics provide crucial insights for passengers, the rail industry and its stakeholders and demonstrate clearly how travel patterns are changing across the country. Alongside our rail usage statistics they show that since the pandemic rail usage continues to increase and that the investment put into the Elizabeth line is fundamentally reshaping passenger journeys into and around London.”

Image credit: ORR