London Waterloo is top of the stops again, but passengers numbers are still down on pre-pandemic levels, according to new research.
The figures, released by the Office of Rail and Road, puts the busy passenger terminus back in top spot, but the total number of passenger entries and exits has less than half the number from April 2019 to March 2020 – the last set of non-covid influenced figures.
After a 16-year reign, London Waterloo was knocked off the top by Stratford (London) last year (April 2020 to March 2021), but it finds itself back in pole position following 41.4 million passenger entries and exits in the latest year (April 2021 and March 2022).
But it was 86.9 million from two years ago.
The figures include commuters using South Western Railway services from Reading and Wokingham stations.
London Victoria was the second most used station with 36.8 million entries and exits, while London Bridge stayed in third spot with 33.3 million.
Stratford (London) dropped down to fifth with 28.2 million, although that is more than double last year’s estimate.
In the latest year, there were 24 stations in Great Britain with more than 10 million entries and exits. This is compared to just five stations the previous year and 43 stations two years ago.
Elton and Orston in Nottinghamshire was the least used open station in the latest year, with 40 recorded entries and exits. It had the second lowest usage two years ago (April 2019 to March 2020) when it had 68 entries and exits.
Feras Alshaker, director of planning and performance at the Office of Rail and Road said: “It is heartening to see passengers return to travelling by rail following what was a difficult period for the industry during the pandemic. There’s still some way to go in order for station usage figures to return to pre-pandemic levels.
“Once again it is important to thank all those in the rail industry, who continue to work hard to help people travel safely and with confidence.”
