Brighton railway station recorded the most passenger entries and exits in south-east England during a year that saw Britain’s passenger usage drop 78% compared to the previous year. This was the lowest level of journeys seen since at least before 1872 and is a result of the pandemic.

The numbers are revealed in the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) estimates of station usage statistics 2020-21, which include the annual total of passenger entries and exits at each of the 2,500+ stations in Great Britain.

Brighton recorded 4.1 million passenger entries and exits between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 – underlying its importance as a key interchange and destination for the British public during the pandemic – despite a 76% decrease in passengers compared to 2019-20.

The station knocked Gatwick Airport off the top spot, which had only 1.7 million entries and exits compared to the 21.1 million in 2019-20.

Elsewhere across the south east, Reading station had 3 million entries and exits and also made it into the top 10 most used stations outside of London, markedly down on the 16.8 million entries and exits last year.

Oxford (1.6m) and Woking (1.5m) made up the top 5 across the region.

ORR’s stats reveal Stratford railway station in London as the most used station in Britain, recording nearly 14 million entries and exits in 2020-21 (13,985,162).

It is the first time in 17 years that London Waterloo is not the most used station. The London station saw the biggest decrease in passenger usage, with 12.2 million entries and exits compared to the 86.9 million in 2019-20.

Across Scotland, Glasgow Central remained the most used station with 5.3 million entries and exits, down from 32.5 million in 2019-20. Edinburgh (2.9m), Glasgow Queen Street (2.3m), Paisley Gilmour Street (982,530) and new entrant Partick (634,162) were also in the top 5 most used.

In Wales, Cardiff Central also remained the busiest station during 2020-21 but saw just under 2 million entries and exits compared to more than 12 million last year. Newport in South Wales (543,356), Cardiff Queen Street (472,914), Swansea (468,824) and Bridgend (321,576) completed the top 5 most used.

Only five railway stations in Great Britain had more than 10 million entries and exits in 2020-21 compared with 43 stations in 2019-20.

Nearly 200 railway stations across Britain had fewer than 1,000 entries and exits, with six recording no entries or exits during the last year as a result of services temporarily suspended at the majority of these stations due to the pandemic.

There were 18 stations with less than 20 and 59 with less than 100 recorded entries in 2020-21.

Last year’s least used station was Berney Arms (Norfolk, England) with 42 entries and exits. In 2020-21, the number of entries and exits at this station increased to 348, which was the biggest percentage increase of any station compared with the previous year.

Feras Alshaker, Director of Planning and Performance at the Office of Rail and Road said:

“Throughout 2020-21 the railways remained an essential service for those people who needed to travel during a year which was impacted by the pandemic.

“Brighton remained a key destination for many passengers throught the year, but these stats also underline its importance as a vital stop and interchange for people across the south east.

“This year we have seen many railway stations with very few passenger entries and exits. However, we know that recent figures show leisure journeys are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, while there has been a slower increase in commuter journeys.”