# List of busiest railway stations
A busiest railway station ranking orders stations by the number of passengers they handle, and the answer depends on what is counted: entries and exits, boardings only, or total journeys including transfers. By daily throughput including subway services, [Shinjuku Station](https://www.edgepedia.org/shinjuku-station) in Tokyo holds the Guinness World Record with an average of 2,704,703 passengers per day in 2022[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/busiest-station). By annual passenger counts, Japanese stations dominate the top of the list, with Shinjuku at about 1,164 million passengers per year[2](https://www.worldatlas.com/transportation/the-10-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world.html). In Great Britain, the Office of Rail and Road ranks stations by annual entries and exits, where London Liverpool Street led with 98.0 million in the year ending March 2025[3](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-2025/rail-trends-2025).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| World record (daily) | Shinjuku Station, Tokyo: 2,704,703 average daily passenger throughput in 2022, including subway services[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/busiest-station) |
| World record (annual) | Shinjuku: about 1,164 million passengers per year; Shibuya 1,023 million and Ikebukuro 843 million follow[2](https://www.worldatlas.com/transportation/the-10-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world.html) |
| Busiest in Europe | Gare du Nord, Paris, at about 600,000 passengers a day[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/busiest-station); 257.024 million passengers in the latest count[4](https://consumerchoicecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/RSI2025.pdf) |
| Busiest in Great Britain | London Liverpool Street, 98.0 million entries and exits in FYE March 2025; all top 10 GB stations are in London[3](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-2025/rail-trends-2025) |
| Busiest outside London | Birmingham New Street, 36.6 million entries and exits[3](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-2025/rail-trends-2025) |
| Busiest in Scotland and Wales | Glasgow Central, 25.3 million; Cardiff Central, 12.5 million[3](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-2025/rail-trends-2025) |
## The world's busiest stations
Measured by yearly passenger numbers, the top ten stations begin with Tokyo's Shinjuku Station, which handles roughly 1,164 million passengers annually; Shibuya comes next with 1,023 million, then Ikebukuro with 843 million[2](https://www.worldatlas.com/transportation/the-10-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world.html). Osaka-Umeda (750 million) and Yokohama (711 million) complete the top five[2](https://www.worldatlas.com/transportation/the-10-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world.html). Eight of the ten stations are located in Japan, five of them in Tokyo: a concentration that stems from the country's tightly woven, multiple-operator rail system, where heavy ridership and constant interchange between lines are the norm.[2](https://www.worldatlas.com/transportation/the-10-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world.html)
The two non-Japanese entries are in Kolkata, India: Howrah Station at 547 million passengers per year and Sealdah Station at 438 million[2](https://www.worldatlas.com/transportation/the-10-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world.html). [Tokyo Station](https://www.edgepedia.org/tokyo-station) (433 million) and Nagoya Station (423 million) add national reach through major intercity services, with Nagoya also the primary terminal for the [Tokaido Shinkansen](https://www.edgepedia.org/tokaido-shinkansen)[2](https://www.worldatlas.com/transportation/the-10-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world.html).
**Shinjuku's scale.** Shinjuku's operations are shared among four carriers, JR East, Odakyu Electric Railway, Keio Corporation, and [Tokyo Metro](https://www.edgepedia.org/tokyo-metro), and the station has more than 200 exits spread across several subterranean floors[2](https://www.worldatlas.com/transportation/the-10-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world.html). Its 2022 daily throughput of 2,704,703 was down around 20 percent from pre-pandemic levels, though up significantly on 2020 and 2021[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/busiest-station). The closest competitor by daily throughput is Ikebukuro[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/busiest-station).
## How the counts differ
Rankings of busiest stations are not directly comparable, because operators and statistical agencies measure different things.
## Great Britain
The Office of Rail and Road, the primary producer of official statistics for rail[6](https://www.orr.gov.uk/search-news/london-liverpool-street-takes-top-spot-third-year-running), publishes annual Estimates of Station Usage covering April 2024 to March 2025[7](https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/msigcn24/station-usage-2024-25-statistical-release.pdf). In the latest year, 1,730 million passenger rail journeys were made[7](https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/msigcn24/station-usage-2024-25-statistical-release.pdf), and London Liverpool Street was the most used station with an estimated 98.0 million entries and exits[3](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-2025/rail-trends-2025).
The top 10 stations in Great Britain are all in London[3](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-2025/rail-trends-2025):
| Rank | Station | Entries and exits, FYE March 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | London Liverpool Street | 98.0 million |
| 2 | London Waterloo | 70.4 million |
| 3 | London Paddington | 69.9 million |
| 4 | Tottenham Court Road | 68.1 million |
| 5 | London Bridge | 54.7 million |
| 6 | London Victoria | 53.8 million |
| 7 | Stratford (London) | 51.5 million |
| 8 | Farringdon | 50.2 million |
| 9 | Bond Street | 42.8 million |
| 10 | London Euston | 40.2 million |
Liverpool Street tops the list for a third consecutive year, a result of the ongoing influence of the [Elizabeth line](https://www.edgepedia.org/elizabeth-line), whose central section has been altering how people travel around London since it opened in May 2022[6](https://www.orr.gov.uk/search-news/london-liverpool-street-takes-top-spot-third-year-running). Of the ten most used stations, only Stratford saw a fall in entries and exits compared with the previous year, down 9 percent[7](https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/msigcn24/station-usage-2024-25-statistical-release.pdf).
Outside London, Birmingham New Street was the most used station with 36.6 million entries and exits, followed by Manchester Piccadilly (27.4 million) and Leeds (27.3 million)[3](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-2025/rail-trends-2025). Glasgow Central was the most used station in Scotland with 25.3 million, and Cardiff Central the most used in Wales with 12.5 million[3](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-2025/rail-trends-2025). At the other extreme, Elton and Orston in [Nottinghamshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/nottinghamshire) was the least used station in Great Britain with 68 entries and exits[3](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-2025/rail-trends-2025).
On a typical autumn weekday in 2024, [London Bridge](https://www.edgepedia.org/london-bridge) and Liverpool Street were the busiest London stations by all-day arrivals, with over 235,500 and 273,600 respectively, and both had the highest AM peak arrivals and PM peak departures[3](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-2025/rail-trends-2025).
## Europe
[Gare du Nord](https://www.edgepedia.org/gare-du-nord) in Paris is the busiest station in Europe and one of the busiest worldwide, with passenger numbers rising from 226.768 million to 257.024 million in the latest available figures[4](https://consumerchoicecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/RSI2025.pdf). Frankfurt Main Station increased from 127.75 million in 2024 to 164.250 million passengers in 2025[4](https://consumerchoicecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/RSI2025.pdf). Among Italian stations, Roma Termini, Milano Centrale, and Firenze Santa Maria Novella lead the 2024 rankings published by RFI[8](https://www.rfi.it/it/news-e-media/comunicati-stampa-e-news/2025/9/12/on-line-i-dati-relativi-al-numero-dei-viaggiatori-nel-2024.html).
Reporting quality varies across Europe. Some stations have meticulous statistical breakdowns while others have figures unchanged since 2020, and apparent jumps or falls can reflect a change in methodology rather than a change in the real world; Napoli Centrale, for example, reverted from monthly FS Italiane group surveys to the older system of Italian authorities reporting numbers directly[4](https://consumerchoicecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/RSI2025.pdf).
## Reading the rankings
Three points help when comparing lists of busiest stations. Second, multi-operator complexes inflate totals: Shinjuku's figure aggregates several train and subway companies at one location[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/busiest-station). Third, recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is still visible in the data; Shinjuku's 2022 throughput remained about 20 percent below pre-pandemic levels[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/busiest-station), while European stations such as Gare du Nord and [Frankfurt](https://www.edgepedia.org/frankfurt) recorded renewed growth in 2025[4](https://consumerchoicecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/RSI2025.pdf).
## References
1. [Busiest railway station, Guinness World Records](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/busiest-station)
2. [The 10 Busiest Train Stations in the World, WorldAtlas](https://www.worldatlas.com/transportation/the-10-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world.html)
3. [Rail Trends 2025, GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-2025/rail-trends-2025)
4. [European Railway Station Index 2025, Consumer Choice Center](https://consumerchoicecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/RSI2025.pdf)
5. [Rail Passenger Customer Experience Survey – Method Review technical report, GOV.UK](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691da6500dcbf6343e9a29fd/rail-customer-experience-survey-method-review-technical-report.pdf)
6. [London Liverpool Street takes top spot for the third year running, Office of Rail and Road](https://www.orr.gov.uk/search-news/london-liverpool-street-takes-top-spot-third-year-running)
7. [Estimates of station usage April 2024 to March 2025, ORR Data Portal](https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/msigcn24/station-usage-2024-25-statistical-release.pdf)
8. [On line i dati relativi al numero dei viaggiatori nel 2024, RFI](https://www.rfi.it/it/news-e-media/comunicati-stampa-e-news/2025/9/12/on-line-i-dati-relativi-al-numero-dei-viaggiatori-nel-2024.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Transport and spaceflight › Rail transport › Railway and transit stations › Station usage, busiest stations, accessibility, and classification*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license