Press releases

Glasgow Central still the most used station in Scotland

15 December 2015

Content archived on 29 March 2024

Archive date
02 July 2021
Body

The station usage data for Scotland for the period between April 2014 and March 2015 also shows that the total number of entries and exits across Scotland in 2014-15 increased by over 10m – a 6% rise compared to the year before. The data also shows that Glasgow Central was the most popular station to change trains, with almost 3.5m interchanges in 2014-15.

Top 5 most used stations in Scotland based on estimated entries and exits for 2014-15

Station 2014-15 entries & exits 2013-14 entries & exits % change GB rank 2014-15
Glasgow Central 28,964,760 27,152,694 7% 11
Edinburgh 21,106,540 20,012,302 5% 19
Glasgow Queen Street 16,959,230 15,760,558 8% 25
Paisley Gilmour Street 4,090,566 3,954,558 3% 115
Aberdeen 3,742,646 3,600,268 4% 124

To view the full Estimates of Station Usage dataset and accompanying report, see https://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates

ORR will host a live Twitter Q&A with a senior data analyst on Wednesday 16 December between 11:00am and 12:00. Send us your questions to @railregulation on methodology, improvements to the data quality or ORR's wider statistical work using #stationusage

Notes to editors

  1. ORR is the independent safety and economic regulator for Great Britain's railways. Follow ORR on Twitter @railregulation.
  2. The Estimates of Station Usage statistics consist of the total numbers of people:
    1. Travelling from or to the station (entries and exits); and
    2. Interchanging at the station (interchanges)
  3. Additional information includes geographical location, ticket type and changes from the previous year.
  4. Figures are based on ticket sales data recorded in rail industry systems.
  5. There are a number of limitations of the Estimates of Station Usage:
    1. Certain train operators, primarily Eurostar and Heathrow Express, are not included in rail industry systems. Therefore, travel using these operators’ tickets is not included in the estimates of station usage.
    2. A number of improvements to the methodology have been implemented over recent years. These changes should be taken into account when considering changes in usage between years, as it may be a result of improved methodology, rather than reflecting an actual change in demand at the station.
  6. More information about the impact of these limitations can be found in the Methodological Report on the ORR website.
  7. The figures are presented in alphabetical order according to station name but can be reordered by a variety of categories – e.g. number of passenger entries and exits, country or region, county or unitary authority. Guidance notes on how to filter the data are available within the Excel spreadsheet.
  8. Top 10 most used stations in England, Scotland and Wales based on estimated entries and exits for 2014-15:
Station 2014-15 entries & exits 2013-14 entries & exits % change GB rank 2013-14
Waterloo 99,201,604 98,442,742 0.8% 1
Victoria 85,337,996 81,356,330 4.9% 2
Liverpool Street 63,631,246 63,004,002 1.0% 3
London Bridge 49,517,854 56,442,044 -12.3% 4
Charing Cross 42,978,890 40,170,074 7.0% 6
Euston 42,952,298 41,911,706 2.5% 5
Paddington 35,724,684 35,093,628 1.8% 7
Birmingham New Street 35,312,788 34,748,984 1.6% 8
King's Cross 31,346,862 29,833,456 5.1% 9
Stratford 30,974,204 26,377,506 17.4% 12