London Liverpool Street Tops UK Station Usage for Third Year

London Liverpool Street has been confirmed as the busiest railway station in Great Britain for the third consecutive year, recording nearly 100 million entries and exits, according to the latest annual station usage statistics from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) for April 2024 to March 2025.

At the other end of the spectrum, Elton and Orston in Nottinghamshire remains the least used station, with just 68 entries and exits.

Impact of the Elizabeth Line

The continued influence of the Elizabeth line is evident in London’s travel patterns. Since its central section opened in May 2022, the line has driven high footfall at stations such as Liverpool Street, Paddington, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, and Stratford. Notably, six of the top ten busiest journeys were between stations served by the Elizabeth line, including 8.7 million trips between Liverpool Street and Tottenham Court Road.

Top 10 busiest stations in Great Britain:

Rank	Station	Entries & Exits
1	London Liverpool Street	98.0m
2	London Waterloo	70.4m
3	London Paddington	69.9m
4	Tottenham Court Road	68.1m
5	London Bridge	54.7m
6	London Victoria	53.8m
7	Stratford (London)	51.5m
8	Farringdon	50.2m
9	Bond Street	42.8m
10	London Euston	40.2m

Busiest Stations Outside London

Birmingham New Street remains the busiest station outside London, with 36.6 million entries and exits, followed by Manchester Piccadilly (27.4m) and Leeds (27.3m). In Scotland, Glasgow Central (25.3m) and Edinburgh Waverley (22.8m) retain their positions as the top two busiest stations. Cardiff Central leads in Wales with 12.5 million entries and exits, followed by Newport with 2.8 million.

Top 10 busiest stations outside London:

Rank	Station	Entries & Exits
1	Birmingham New Street	36.6m
2	Manchester Piccadilly	27.4m
3	Leeds	27.3m
4	Glasgow Central	25.3m
5	Edinburgh Waverley	22.8m
6	Gatwick Airport	21.2m
7	Brighton	15.3m
8	Glasgow Queen Street	15.0m
9	Liverpool Central	14.8m
10	Liverpool Lime Street	14.4m

Quietest Stations

Elton and Orston remains the least used station, followed by Shippea Hill (76 entries) in Cambridgeshire, Ince and Elton (98) in Cheshire, Denton (100) in Greater Manchester, and Reddish South (102), also in Greater Manchester. Denton moved up from last year after its usage nearly doubled.

Top 5 least used stations:

Rank	Station	Entries & Exits
1	Elton and Orston, Nottinghamshire	68
2	Shippea Hill, Cambridgeshire	76
3	Ince and Elton, Cheshire	98
4	Denton, Greater Manchester	100
5	Reddish South, Greater Manchester	102

Feras Alshaker, ORR’s Director of Planning and Performance, said:"These statistics demonstrate continued growth in rail usage across the UK, alongside the lasting impact of major investments such as the Elizabeth line. Understanding these trends is essential for planning a network that meets passengers’ needs."