Harlesden
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I just wondered if there is a list anywhere online.
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Britain's busiest commuter routes wholly outside London
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Nym
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Since it's not in London, no-one really cares about the overcrowing in the Centro, GMPTE, Metro or Nexus areas...
Honestly, no idea, but the ORR might be a good place to look...
Honestly, no idea, but the ORR might be a good place to look...
amcluesent
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GLQ to EDB?
MidnightFlyer
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Glasgow has the busiest railway network outside of London, but as for specific routes there or nationally I'm not too sure. Are we talking all day or just commuter times?
D841 Roebuck
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Stockport to Manchester must be up there.
Or maybe Radyr to Cardiff.
Or maybe Radyr to Cardiff.
Eagle
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Central portion of the Cross City line must make the top five.
tbtc
Veteran Member
There's a list regularly published with the busiest trains (defined in terms of capacity).
I think that the two busiest "non London" ones were a morning LM service through Snow Hill/ Moor Street and a Manchester Airport to Middlesbrough service which passed through Leeds at something like 07:50 (i.e. just before the half hourly early morning service became the four trains an hour of daytime).
But defining it in terms of "routes" (rather than individual services) would be a lot harder - some trains between (say) Stockport and Manchester will have plenty of spare capacity whilst others will be crammed.
Or does the OP define "busiest" in terms of frequency rather than "overcrowding"?
Eng274
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The North Clyde can be fairly busy during the peaks, but its hard to define an exact route due to the numerous permutations, ie balloch/Helensburgh/milngavie/Dalmuir (x2 routes) to Larkhall/Motherwell (x2 routes)/Coatbridge central/Carstairs/Lanark, plus the infinite stopping patterns they all offer.
Alternatively, the cross country Birmingham - Newcastle corridor is generally well utilised!
Alternatively, the cross country Birmingham - Newcastle corridor is generally well utilised!
Qwerty133
Established Member
if so the stourbridge shuttle would be a contender with its 10 minutely frequency even though it is no where near the busiest route
Nym
Established Member
Theres also the issue of routes into, for example, Manchester Airport not being that crowded at the terminus, this being the way I have seen such figures measured would result in a large skewing of data for services off say, 13/14 at Piccadilly.
RPI
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The Cardiff Valley's are very busy and so is Weston-Bristol-Bath, both as a commuter route and the seasonal trade. Although not "Commuter", the St Ives branch during the summer months is extremely busy, a 4 car 150 from around 10:00-13:00 every half an hour heading towards St Ives always completely rammed to the point of leaving passengers behind.
Cherry_Picker
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Snow Hill lines (especially the Stourbridge side) and Cross City must be up there.
michael769
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You get the same phenomenon on the Shotts and Airdire/Bathgate routes as well.
Cherry_Picker
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20783986
This was published a few months ago, the ten most overcrowded services in the country.
1) 07:44 First Great Western Henley-on-Thames to London Paddington - load factor 180%
2) 07:32 South West Trains Woking to London Waterloo - load factor 164%
3) 18:13 London Midland London Euston to Birmingham New Street - load factor 162%
4) 16:48 London Midland London Euston to Birmingham New Street - load factor 160%
5) 06:30 First Great Western Banbury to London Paddington - load factor 158%
6) 07:55 London Midland Stourbridge Junction to Stratford-upon-Avon - load factor 157%
7) 06:23 First TransPennine Express Manchester Airport to Middlesbrough - load factor 155%
8) 18:17 National Express East Anglia London Liverpool Street to Shenfield - load factor 154%
9) 07:14 South West Trains Alton to London Waterloo - load factor 152%
10) 17:46 London Midland London Euston to Birmingham New Street - load factor 152%
6 & 7 are the only ones that don't touch London. From experience I can tell you that #6 is overcrowded between Stourbridge and Snow Hill and thins out significantly after that, I would presume that #7 would be at it's fullest coming into Leeds?
This was published a few months ago, the ten most overcrowded services in the country.
1) 07:44 First Great Western Henley-on-Thames to London Paddington - load factor 180%
2) 07:32 South West Trains Woking to London Waterloo - load factor 164%
3) 18:13 London Midland London Euston to Birmingham New Street - load factor 162%
4) 16:48 London Midland London Euston to Birmingham New Street - load factor 160%
5) 06:30 First Great Western Banbury to London Paddington - load factor 158%
6) 07:55 London Midland Stourbridge Junction to Stratford-upon-Avon - load factor 157%
7) 06:23 First TransPennine Express Manchester Airport to Middlesbrough - load factor 155%
8) 18:17 National Express East Anglia London Liverpool Street to Shenfield - load factor 154%
9) 07:14 South West Trains Alton to London Waterloo - load factor 152%
10) 17:46 London Midland London Euston to Birmingham New Street - load factor 152%
6 & 7 are the only ones that don't touch London. From experience I can tell you that #6 is overcrowded between Stourbridge and Snow Hill and thins out significantly after that, I would presume that #7 would be at it's fullest coming into Leeds?
corin paul
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Manchester to Stockport must be up there, and the east side of Birmingham New Street.
You are always waiting for a platform, even with the amount of them.
You are always waiting for a platform, even with the amount of them.
matchmaker
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But if you read the article it applies to England only. I'd guess at one of the Glasgow suburban services (North Clyde or South Clyde)
transmanche
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It's also worth noting that some services include a 'standing allowance' of up to 35%.
So for some of those services a load factor of '100%' = the number of standard class seats on the train. Whereas for others a load factor of '100%' = 135% of the number of standard class seats on the train.
That will be wedged from Piccadilly and only get worse at Stalybridge and Huddersfield, I wouldn't actually be surprised if that left people behind at Huddersfield. From Leeds it'll be busy but probably not all that many standees and from York it will be relatively lightly loaded.
jamesst
Member
Merseyrail must be up there too
That's a misleading statement. The list is the most overcrowded weekday services arriving in 'major cities' in the morning peak and leaving major cities in the evening peak.
If the 07:17 Northern Rail Manchester-Chester service is operated by a ex-FNW 150/1 it leaves Altrincham with a load factor of 156%. However, Altrincham is not a 'major city' and the train is going away from Manchester in the morning peak not towards so it is not counted. (Given the service is booked for a 150 but a 142 is more likely to turn up than a 156, the seated+standing capacity of a refurbished 150/1 is probably the best figure to use.)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The 35% standing capacity applies where there is more than 20 minutes between the last station before the major city and the major city. The Airport-Middlesbrough service does not call at Dewsbury so between Huddersfield and Leeds (21 minutes journey time) the standing capacity on that section is 0. This means the 07:06 Airport-Newcastle service could have more passengers on it and have a lower % load factor because it calls at Dewsbury meaning it has a standing allowance.
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sheff'd victoria
Member
Having looked on the world of twitter, passengers coming into Manchester Victoria seem to be tweeting about been cramed like sardines on services for most of the day
Well a Merseytravel 142 can feel like that even if it's not loaded to the official 135% of the seating capacity figure.
work-traveller
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If you go by the Steer Davis Gleave data produced for the ORR, busiest stations are:
Entry/Exits
1) Birmingham New Street
2) Glasgow Central
3) Leeds
4) Edinburgh Waverley
5) Glasgow Queen Street
Interchanging
1) Birmingham New Street
2) Manchester Piccadilly
3) Reading
4) Glasgow Central
5) Leeds
Entry/Exits
1) Birmingham New Street
2) Glasgow Central
3) Leeds
4) Edinburgh Waverley
5) Glasgow Queen Street
Interchanging
1) Birmingham New Street
2) Manchester Piccadilly
3) Reading
4) Glasgow Central
5) Leeds
Remember those are estimates based on ticket sales, especially where there are multiple stations in the same city.
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