By Guy Taylor
The Elizabeth Line’s impact on London travel since its opening last year has been laid bare, with the City hub named the busiest in Britain, behind nine other London stations.
A shake-up in the Office for Rail and Road (ORR)’s top ten busiest stations in Britain saw Liverpool Street shoot to the top, with 80.4m passengers using the hub in the 12 months from April 2022.
The Elizabeth Line, which runs from beyond the western and eastern edges of the capital, was the “principal contributing factor” in that growth, the ORR said.
Not just Liverpool Street though. Paddington, Farringdon and Tottenham Court road all featured in the top-ten since the fondly named ‘Lizzie Line’ opened.
Paddington came in second, with 59.2m entries and exits, while Farringdon rose a whopping 29 places to number nine at 31.5m. London stations made up the entire top ten list, with Birmingham New Street and Leeds ranked 11th and 12th respectively.
Feras Alshaker, director of planning and performance at the Office of Rail and Road, said: “Our official statistics released today show how 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 busiest stations outside of London remain more stable with Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester leading the list.”
In a year tarnished by rail strikes and troubles at HS2, the Elizabeth Line has proved a bright light for rail. It carried 150m passengers in its first twelve months and was responsible for a staggering one-sixth of all journeys across Britain’s transport network in the latter part of 2022.
But punctuality issues have threatened to spoil the party as of late. Mayor Sadiq Khan has come under pressure to improve poor performance amid questionable delays over the summer.
The government’s decision to temporarily terminate HS2 at Old Oak Common while construction at Euston is halted, has also sparked concern over the strain it will place on the Elizabeth Line.
A spokesman for London TravelWatch, the capital’s statutory transport watchdog, said: “It’s positive to see a post-pandemic recovery of sorts on the railway even after all the disruptive strike action that’s taken place this year.”
However, the regulator noted “punctuality on the TfL Elizabeth line actually got worse. This will be no surprise to passengers who have experienced some really challenging incidents recently.”
