London Waterloo was Britain’s most used main line railway station in 2021/22 according to the Office of Rail and Road’s latest statistics – but passenger numbers were less than half pre-pandemic levels.
Stratford was the previous year’s top station, but has fallen to fifth in the table, which only has two stations – Birmingham New Street (eighth) and Manchester Piccadilly (tenth) in the top ten.
Scotland’s busiest station was Glasgow Central, with passenger numbers tripling to 15.3 million – but this is less than half the 2019/20 figure. In Wales, Cardiff Central station recorded 7.5 million entries and exits, more than five million fewer than two years ago.
The ORR says 24 stations had more than 10 million entries and exits, 19 fewer than before the pandemic.
At the other end of the table, six stations had fewer than 100 entries and exits, with Elton and Orton recording 40, Teesside Airport 42, Stanlow and Thornton 44, Denton 50 and Sugar Loaf 76. Kirton Lindsey station recorded 68 entries and exits, but the service was suspended in April/May 2021 and January-March 2022.
