Revealed: Britain’s 'loneliest' railway station, with just 68 passengers a year

The station operates an limited East Midlands Railway timetable, with just a single daily train heading towards Nottingham and another travelling in the direction of Skegness.

Services run only from Monday to Saturday, leaving the station completely without rail connections on Sundays.

The statistics are calculated mostly using ticket sales data, meaning the true footfall for the statio, which has no barriers, could be marginally different.

The station lacks any staffing, offers no seating areas for waiting travellers, and provides neither toilet facilities nor lift access.

Despite such minimal usage, closing railway stations entirely is tricky as it can often be difficult to get permission.

This explains why Elton and Orston continues to be used, even as it welcomes barely more than one passenger per week on average.

Meanwhile, London Liverpool Street has retained its title of the UK’s busiest railway station.

The estimated number of entries and exits at Liverpool Street in the year to the end of March was 98.0 million, regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said, up 3.7 per cent from 94.5 million a year earlier.

London Waterloo was the second busiest station in 2024/25, with 70.4 million entries and exits. It was ranked number four during the previous 12 months.

The busiest stations in England outside London were Birmingham New Street (36.6 million entries and exists), Manchester Piccadilly (27.4 million) and Leeds (27.3 million).

London Waterloo, which connects the capital to the south coast, was the busiest in the UK for all but one of the 18 years up to and including 2021/22, but lost its title when the Elizabeth line opened.

London Paddington (69.9 million entries and exits) and Tottenham Court Road (68.1 million entries and exits) were ranked third and fourth, respectively.

They are both served by the Elizabeth line, which stretches from Reading in Berkshire and Heathrow Airport in west London to Abbey Wood in south-east London and Shenfield in Essex.

London Bridge secured fifth place, with 54.7 million entries and exits.

The leader in Scotland was Glasgow Central (25.3 million), while Cardiff Central (12.5 million) took top spot in Wales.

A total of 1.73 billion passenger journeys were made in the year to the end of March, up seven per cent from 1.61 billion in the previous year, the ORR said.

Network Rail, which owns Liverpool Street station, wants to redevelop the Grade II-listed site as part of a £1.2billion project, which would involve building a mixed-use 97-metre tower block over the concourse.

A now-scrapped previous plan for a 108-metre tower block sparked criticism from public figures such as broadcaster Sir Stephen Fry and artist Tracey Emin. The City of London Corporation is expected to make a decision next year on whether the latest proposal can go ahead.

Elton and Orston took the title off Denton in Tameside, Greater Manchester, which was previously the least used station to be open all year twice in a row.

The other least used railway stations in the UK are Shippea Hill in Cambridgeshire with just 76 users and Ince & Elton in Cheshire on 98 users.

Teesside Airport, which technically remains operational, has not seen service since May 2022, and was the least used station four times in a row, from 2010 to 2014.

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