The UK has a new busiest train station
The opening of the Elizabeth line has changed the way people travel in London - bumping the previous busiest station down to third place.
Thursday 14 December 2023 11:57, UK
London's Liverpool Street train station has replaced Waterloo as the busiest in the UK, new figures show.
There were 80.4 million entries and exits at Liverpool Street in the year to the end of March, regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said.
The year-on-year increase of around 50 million was attributed to the opening of the Elizabeth line railway, which serves the station.
The Elizabeth line, which began operating in May 2022, also caused Paddington to rise to second place with 59.2 million entries and exits.
Waterloo fell to third place with 57.8 million entries and exits.
The busiest stations outside London were Birmingham New Street (30.7 million), Leeds (24.0 million) and Manchester Piccadilly (23.6 million).
Glasgow Central was the most used station in Scotland (20.8 million) and Cardiff Central topped the list in Wales (10.2 million).
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ORR director of planning and performance Feras Alshaker said: "The full opening of the Elizabeth line has changed the way people travel into and across the capital.
"Waterloo had been the busiest station in Britain for all but one of the previous 18 years."
The least used station that was open throughout the whole year was Denton, Greater Manchester, with 34 entries and exits.
Only two entries and exits were recorded at Teesside Airport station, but its once-a-week Sunday service was suspended in May 2022 after the platform was classified as unsafe.