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The quietest and busiest train stations in Britain

London Waterloo once again Britain’s busiest station

Cathy Adams
Tuesday 14 January 2020 07:48 EST
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London stations made up nine out of 10 of the UK’s busiest stations
London stations made up nine out of 10 of the UK’s busiest stations (Getty)

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Denton in Greater Manchester and Stanlow & Thornton in Cheshire are the least-used train stations according to new figures.

Both stations had just 46 entries and exits in the period between 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019, according to estimates from the Office of Rail and Road.

Denton sits on the Stockport to Stalybridge rail line, with just two trains a week – one in each direction.

Stanlow & Thornton station, on the Ellesmere Port to Warrington line, was built to serve the nearby refinery. Three trains a day call at the station in either direction.

Reddish South, also on the Stockport to Stalybridge line, was the third quietest station, used just 60 times in 2018/19.

London stations made up nine out of 10 of the UK’s busiest stations, with London Waterloo once again the most-used hub with more than 94 million entries and exits.

Victoria (74.7 million); Liverpool Street (69.5 million); and London Bridge (61.3 million) were second, third and fourth respectively.

In fifth place was Birmingham New Street, with almost 48 million passengers in 2018/19.

Outside London, Glasgow Central (32.8 million); Leeds (30.8 million); and Manchester Piccadilly (30.3 million) were the most-used stations.

Clapham Junction was ranked the station with the most interchanges, with 29.3 million people changing trains at the South London station in 2018/19.

Busiest stations in the UK

  1. London Waterloo: 94,192,690
  2. London Victoria: 74,715,808
  3. London Liverpool Street: 69,482,532
  4. London Bridge: 61,308,364
  5. Birmingham New Street: 47,927,772
  6. London Euston: 46,146,456
  7. Stratford (London): 41,206,226
  8. London Paddington: 38,181,588
  9. London St Pancras International: 35,984,204
  10. London Kings Cross: 34,645,924

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