We looked at the latest government figures to reveal the busiest train stations in Islington last year.
By Andrew Dowdeswell, Data Reporter
Office for Rail and Road data looks at the number of people entering and exiting every train station in the country, including the 10 stations for which data was collected in Islington.
Its figures show Liverpool Street in London overtook Waterloo as the most-used station in Great Britain, which the ORR attributed to the opening of London’s latest train service, the Elizabeth Line.
Waterloo had been the busiest station in the country in all but one of the previous 18 years, but it even dropped to third in the year to March behind Paddington, also on the Elizabeth Line.
But what about in Islington? Here were the most used stations in the year to March.
The Top Five Stations
1. Farringdon
With 31.5 million entries and exits into the station in 2022-23, Farringdon station topped the charts as the busiest train station in Islington.
2. Highbury and Islington
This was followed by Highbury and Islington station, which saw people enter and exit 20.6 million times last year.
3. Finsbury Park
In third was Finsbury Park – 8.6 million entries and exits were recorded there.
4. Old Street
Just behind on 5.4 million entries and exits was Old Street.
5. Canonbury
And rounding out the top five was Canonbury, with 2.3 million entries and exits.
Elsewhere in Britain
The busiest stations outside London were Birmingham New Street, Leeds and Manchester Piccadilly.
Glasgow Central was the most used station in Scotland, and Cardiff Central topped the list in Wales.
The least used station that was open throughout the whole year was Denton in Greater Manchester, with 34 entries and exits.
Teesside Airport station in Darlington recorded two entries and exits, but its once-a-week Sunday service was suspended in May 2022 after the platform was judged to be unsafe.
In total, there were 2.5 billion entries and exits across Great Britain in 2022-23, a significant increase from 1.8 billion the year before, but still below the 3 billion entries and exits in 2019-20, before the coronavirus pandemic.
What they said
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.”
Transport for London’s Elizabeth line director Howard Smith said: “The Elizabeth line has been a transformational new railway for London, connecting east and west through 10 modern stations, with around 4.3 million journeys being made each week and more than 270 million journeys since it opened last year.”
