Revealed: London's busiest train stations and how many people use them every day

Ramzy Alwakeel16 December 2015

Nine of the country’s 10 busiest train stations last year were in London, new figures have revealed, with Waterloo topping the league.

The number of journeys made on Britain’s railways in 2014/15 jumped 4.5 per cent to hit 2.8 billion, the Office of Rail and Road said.

Nearly 100 million entries and exits were recorded at Waterloo, an increase of 800,000 from the year before.

On average, that means more than a quarter of a million people used it every single day.

Busiest in the UK: Waterloo station
Nigel Howard

Victoria came in second with 234,000 people a day, while Liverpool Street was third with a daily footfall of 174,000.

One of the biggest hikes in passenger footfall was at Stratford.

Nearly 31m people went in and out of the east London terminus last year, up from 26.3m in 2013/4.

By contrast, London Bridge station – where long-running building works have caused lengthy headaches for commuters over the last 12 months – lost nearly 7m passengers, about 12 per cent.

Martin Abrams of the Campaign for Better Transport said: “These statistics show more passengers than ever are using the rail network and it is vital the government supports this with smart ticketing, flexible season tickets for part-time workers and improved rolling stock.

Britain’s busiest train stations

1 Waterloo (99,201,604 entries and exits)

2 Victoria (85,337,996 entries and exits)

3 Liverpool Street (63,631,246 entries and exits)

4 London Bridge (49,517,854 entries and exits)

5 Charing Cross (42,978,890 entries and exits)

6 Euston (42,952,298 entries and exits)

7 Paddington (35,724,684 entries and exits)

8 Birmingham New Street (35,312,788 entries and exits)

9 King’s Cross (31,346,862 entries and exits)

10 Stratford (30,974,204 entries and exits)

“The problems experienced by passengers at London Bridge this year are clearly reflected by the drop in passenger numbers, which demonstrates the pressure on the rail network.

“As well as increased investment in the biggest and busiest stations in London and the south, we need to see more done in parts of the north where there has been very little investment in the network.”

The country’s quietest train station – Shippea Hill in Cambridgeshire – was used by just 22 people in the whole year.

On average, the same number used Waterloo station every seven seconds.

The numbers do not take into account Tube journeys but do include London Overground services - which accounts for the presence of stations like Highbury and Islington (number 20).

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