Britain’s busiest stations have been revealed, and one London station remains the most rammed travel hub.
Despite delays, cancellations and creaking infrastructure, train travel remains a popular choice for UK travellers and commuters.
The peak of the festive travel season is just some weeks away, and the railways and hundreds of stations are likely to be busy as millions head off for the holidays.
For hundreds of thousands, festive travel might involve going through London Liverpool Street, which has been named the UK’s busiest station again with nearly 100 million journeys.
Here is a roundup of the top busiest and quietest railway hubs.
Where are the UK’s busiest train stations?
London Liverpool Street saw an estimated 98 million entries and exits between April 2024 and March 2025, according to data collected by the watchdog, the Office of Rail and Road. This is up 3.7% from 94.5 million in the previous year.
The station has links to the Elizabeth line, Stansted Express and Greater Anglia services, but it has been plagued by significant overcrowding.
To tackle the crowding and upgrade the station for the future, the Liverpool Street station has been earmarked for a major refurbishment. It would see the station building upgraded with a new concourse with shops and restaurants, new lifts and escalators and a tower block built on top of the nearby Grade II-listed former hotel. The decision for the controversial plan opposed by conservation groups has been delayed after Network Rail, the owner of the station, added new details to the planning application.
The second busiest station is London Waterloo with around 70.4 million entries and exits, which rose in the ranking from a previous fourth spot.
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Waterloo retained its status as the busiest station for 18 years until 2021/22 when the Elizabeth line launched.
London Paddington took the third spot with around 69.9 million journeys, while Tottenham Court Road recorded 68.1 million entries and exits in the year to the end of March.
Top 20 busiest railway stations
The list shows the number of entries and exits in March 2024/April 2025, and in brackets journeys and ranking in 2023/24.
1. London Liverpool Street: 98,015,658 (2023/24: 94,499,824; 1st)
2. London Waterloo: 70,389,546 (62,525,274; 4th)
3. London Paddington: 69,897,084 (66,859,098; 2nd)
4. Tottenham Court Road: 68,133,826 (64,219,040; 3rd)
5. London Bridge: 54,685,648 (50,045,010; 7th)
6. London Victoria: 53,784,358 (50,829,676; 6th)
7. Stratford, London: 51,473,518 (56,570,866; 5th)
8. Farringdon, London: 50,171,290 (46,049,862; 8th)
9. Bond Street, London: 42,752,242 (38,307,986; 9th)
10. London Euston: 40,248,974 (36,185,290; 10th)
11. London St Pancras International 38,842,772 (35,959,980; 11th)
12. Whitechapel, London: 37,140,828 (35,246,924; 12th)
13. Birmingham New Street: 36,623,678 (33,335,376; 13th)
14. London Kings Cross: 27,727,108 (24,483,826; 17th)
15. Manchester Piccadilly: 27,401,610 (25,776,162; 14th)
16. Leeds: 27,309,508 (24,891,386; 16th)
17. Glasgow Central: 25,293,930 (24,964,246; 15th)
18. Clapham Junction, London: 24,447,510 (22,858,198; 18th)
19. Highbury & Islington, London: 23,982,528 (21,827,580; 19th)
20. Edinburgh: 22,755,164 (21,307,916; 20th)
Outside of London, the busiest station in England was Birmingham New Street (36.6 million), while Scotland’s number one was Glasgow Central (25.3 million). In Wales, the busiest station was Cardiff Central with 12.5 million.
Overall, railway journeys were up by 7% in 2024/25 from 1.61 billion to 1.73 billion.
What stations were the quietest?
Elton and Orston station in Nottinghamshire recorded just 68 entries in the 2024/2025 season. It is served by one East Midlands Railway a day in each direction between Nottingham and Skegness.
Two stations in Greater Manchester, Denton and Reddish South, were among the stations were you will be lucky to spot another passenger.
Top 20 quietest railway stations
1. Elton & Orston, Nottinghamshire: 68 (212; 9th)
2. Shippea Hill, Cambridgeshire: 76 (70; 2nd)
3. Ince & Elton, Cheshire: 98 (86; 3rd)
4. Denton, Greater Manchester: 100 (54; 1st)
5. Reddish South, Greater Manchester: 102 (128; 5th)
6. Polesworth, Warwickshire: 154 (118; 4th)
7. Chapelton, Devon: 160 (186; 7th)
8. Coombe Junction Halt, Cornwall: 224 (140; 6th)
9. Scotscalder, Highland: 226 (242; 11th)
10. Beasdale, Highland: 230 (260; 13th)
11. Ardwick, Greater Manchester: 262 (396; 20th)
12. Buckenham, Norfolk: 284 (360; 17th)
13. Pilning, Gloucestershire: 294 (330; 16th)
14. Kildonan, Highland: 312 (240; 10th)
15. Culrain, Highland: 318 (300; 15th)
16. Duncraig, Highland: 354 (448; 23rd)
17. Invershin, Highland: 362 (440; 22nd)
18. Kinbrace, Highland: 406 (606; 28th)
19. Rawcliffe, East Riding of Yorkshire: 412 (498; 25th)
20. Lochluichart, Highland: 424 (374; 19th)
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