There is a certain level of irony that prevails when considering the masses of people commuting on a daily basis and the feelings of loneliness that individuals often report during this time of their day. At Commuter Mob, our mission is to tackle this problem by offering suggestions on how people can better spend their time commuting, making it more productive and eventually enjoyable. We aim to achieve this while also providing opportunities for connection, best facilitated through our Facebook group, linked here!
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This Article is powered by TFL Open Data and ‘Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2016’ and Geomni UK Map data © and database rights [2019]
This article aims to provide some context for just how many of us commute, so if nothing else, you can find comfort in knowing you certainly are not alone as you pass through the busiest London Underground stations. Hopefully, we all have personal connections at home and in the workplace; our aim is to create a space for connection in that gap and ensure that your commute is not just a means to an end. So, read on, continue your commute, and find comfort in the knowledge that you’re anything but alone.
A General Look
The following list is of the top 10 busiest stations from annual entry and exit figures in 2022.
King’s Cross St. Pancras: 69,936,049
London Waterloo: 68,719,185
London Victoria: 56,430,221
London Bridge: 56,204,583
Liverpool Street: 55,837,583
Oxford Circus: 54,022,846
Tottenham Court Road: 48,952,679
Stratford: 47,881,009
Paddington, 46,649,966
Bond Street: 35,413,724
A lot of these are perhaps rather unsurprising given the transport links they provide. The busiest, Kings Cross St. Pancras London Underground Station, serves two of London’s busiest mainline railway stations, namely King’s Cross and St. Pancras. This underground station also intersects six underground lines, more than any other station, and has eight platforms.
The underground lines the station services are the Circle, Piccadilly, Hammersmith & City, Northern, Metropolitan, and Victoria lines. King’s Cross and St. Pancras had a staggering weekly average of 1,486,092 entries and exits in 2022.
Top 10 quietest Stations from annual entry and exit figures in 2022:
Roding Valley: 259,271
Chigwell: 312,653
Grange Hill: 367,952
North Ealing: 588,313
Theydon Bois: 679,199
Moor Park: 729,111
Upminster Bridge: 739,660
Ruislip Gardens: 766,348
Croxley: 810,760
Ickenham: 821,905
You might have a slightly quieter commute and maybe even the luxury of a seat if you pass through one of these less busy underground stations. The quietest station in the London Underground network in 2022 was Roding Valley, situated on the Central Line with 259,271 annual entries and exits, averaging just 5,509 per week. Its remote location is why it’s so quiet, but that distance from central London inevitably makes it a long commute, perhaps too long.
What It Means For Commuters
From the lists above, you can get an idea of the overall volume of people traveling through London Underground Stations, but it can be extremely interesting to see a day-by-day breakdown of when the stations are at their respective peaks. Understanding this may even influence your decision on the ‘best days to work from home,’ as you might be keen to dodge busy trains.
A common school of thought suggests that if you want a quiet commute, you should opt for Mondays and Fridays and steer clear of the midweek surge. People perceive stations and travel networks in our big cities to be busier from Tuesday to Thursday, once individuals have enjoyed their long weekends having worked from home on Friday and Monday.
The data from TFL mostly supports this thesis but for a few exceptions. Of our top 10 busiest London Underground Stations listed earlier, all but three have their busiest days mid-week. The exceptions to the rule are King’s Cross and St. Pancras and Paddington, where the busiest days are Fridays. This could be due to Friday evening travel for non-work-related journeys out of the city, given their service to big mainline railway stations. Another interesting exception is Stratford, where the busiest day of the week is Monday, with 145,982 entries and exits. Perhaps, if you use this underground station, you should reconsider your hybrid working schedule!
The New Post Covid World
It is interesting to reflect on how we commuted pre-pandemic and observe the changes in statistics compared to today. We examined data for entries and exits in 2019, and, as expected, our underground stations were serving more commuters annually than they are today. The top 10 in terms of annual entry and exit figures are listed below:
King’s Cross St. Pancras: 88,273,827
Victoria: 85,468,928
Waterloo: 82,934,325
Oxford Circus: 78,073,457
London Bridge: 74,343,494
Liverpool Street: 67,202,755
Stratford: 64,853,194
Bank and Monument: 61,793,808
Paddington: 48,612,110
Canary Wharf: 47,685,725
If one thing came out of the pandemic, it was the realisation of how effective remote work could be, offering a level of freedom we hadn’t yet experienced in our lives. When Zoom calls and email exchanges have proven to suffice, it is understandable and logical that fewer of us would tackle the daily commute and pass through busy stations every day—something the data clearly reflects. (Read our article where we discuss ‘Work from Home vs Work from Office’) It will be interesting to see how this trend continues over time and if we ever return to pre-pandemic levels.
Conclusion
We hope you found this article to be an interesting read and, perhaps, it influenced your decision about when you prefer to travel into the office, depending on how averse you are to crowds. We also hope that you might find comfort in the knowledge that you are not alone in what can often feel like an extremely isolating and lonely commute. Now, armed with an idea of the scale of just how many of us commute on a daily basis, you may feel like part of a larger community.
As mentioned, we aim to offer opportunities for connection within this community, so check out our resources and connect with the mob. The best way to interact with other commuters is through our Facebook Group. Share what your commute is like and let us know if you pass through any of the aforementioned stations. We all have more in common than you might think. Safe Travels!