Stations Get More Crowded

4 December 2014, 19:10 | Updated: 4 December 2014, 19:17

New figures show London's rail stations are getting more crowded.

Some London termini handled upwards of 8% more passengers last year, with the total for the busiest of them all - Waterloo - approaching the 100 million mark.

Of the 10 busiest stations, Euston had the largest increase last year, rising 9.4%.

From the Office of Rail Regulation, the figures were based on estimates of entries and exits at stations for the period April 1 2013 to March 31 2014.

On this basis, Waterloo was the busiest station with 98.44 million passengers - a rise of 2.6% on 2012/13.

Next was Victoria, where numbers rose 5.2% to 81.35 million, with Liverpool Street third with a rise of 7.8% to 63 million.

The only non-London stations in the top 10 were  Birmingham New Street, which was in 8th place and where numbers rose 8.3% to 34.75 million and 10th-placed Leeds, where numbers were up 5.3% to 27.73 million.

Other busy stations in 2013/14 included Glasgow Central (27.15 million passengers), Edinburgh (20 million), Brighton (16.94 million), Gatwick Airport (16.18 million) and Glasgow Queen Street (15.76 million).

These were the busiest stations (all are London terminii except Birmingham New Street and Leeds)

STATION                                                        Exits/Entrances 2013/14      Percentage change on 2012/13

1. Waterloo                                                          98,442,742                                          +2.6%

2. Victoria                                                             81,356,330                                          +5.2%

3. Liverpool Street                                               63,004,002                                          +7.8%

4. London Bridge                                                 56,442,044                                          +5.8%

5. Euston                                                              41,911,706                                          +9.4%

6. Charing Cross                                                 40,170,074                                           +4.0%

7. Paddington                                                      35,093,628                                           +2.8%

8. Birmingham New Street                                  34,748,984                                           +8.3%

9. King's Cross                                                    29,823,715                                           +4.8%

10.Leeds                                                              27,729,453                                           +5.8%

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "These figures are further proof that more passengers are using our rail network than ever before.

"As part of our long-term economic plan, we are investing record amounts in the network, with more than £38 billion being spent on improvements and maintenance over the next five years, to provide a world-class railway for growing numbers of passengers."