London Waterloo named as UK’s busiest rail station
London Waterloo has been named as the country’s busiest train station, with nine of the top 10 all located in the capital.
The Office of Rail and Road released its annual passenger figures today, revealing there was 94.2m entries and exits at Waterloo in 2018-19.
The figure was the lowest number of passenger journeys for the station since 2011-12 and represents a 162,000 decline from 2017-18.
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London Victoria, London Liverpool Street Station and London Bridge were the second, third and fourth busiest in the country, with 74.7m, 69.5m and 61.3m entries and exits respectively.
The UK’s top 10 busiest rail stations
| Station | Number of entries and exits |
| London Waterloo | 94.2m |
| London Victoria | 74.7m |
| London Liverpool Street Station | 69.5m |
| London Bridge | 61.3m |
| Birmingham New Street | 47.9m |
| London Euston | 46.1m |
| Stratford | 41.2m |
| London Paddington | 38.2m |
| London St Pancras International | 36m |
| London Kings Cross | 34.6m |
The only non-London station in the top 10 was Birmingham New Street in fifth place, which had 47.9m passenger journeys.
Euston, Stratford, Paddington, St Pancras International and Kings Cross rounded out the top 10 spots.
The busiest non-London stations, after Birmingham New Street, were Glasgow Central, Leeds, Manchester Piccadilly and Edinburgh.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the scale the least used rail station for 2018-19 was a tie between Greater Manchester’s Denton and Cheshire’s Stanlow and Thornton.
Both stations recorded just 46 passenger journeys for the entire year.
Commenting on the results, director of the Rail Delivery Group Robert Nisbet said: “From buzzing city terminals to tranquil rural platforms, Britain’s train stations are connecting people and spreading opportunity in every corner of the country.
“That’s why rail companies are working hard to improve these gateways to communities, with upgrades taking place this year from Aberdeen to Wolverhampton, and Glasgow to Gatwick Airport.”