For the majority of London commuters, crowded platforms and jostling for a seat on a packed train are part of the reality of the daily grind.
But there are a few secluded parts of the capital’s rail network where things are different.
Using the latest passenger data from the Office of Rail and Road, The Standard has tracked down the 10 quietest, or least used, rail stations in London.
Sudbury & Harrow Road, less than two miles from Wembley Stadium, tops the list with 22,952 entries and exits in 2024/5, according to the ORR.
The station – which is served by Chiltern trains running in and out of Marylebone – is ranked the 2,249th least busy station in Britain in the ORR’s annual rankings, out of a total of 2,597 stations.
Only four trains call at Sudbury & Harrow Road in the morning rush hour, on their way south to Marylebone, and four in the evening peak heading north.
The journey between the station and Marylebone takes 14 minutes. Chiltern’s timetable warns passengers that the 0810 to Marylebone, which starts at Gerrards Cross, is usually “standing room only”.
Sudbury & Harrow Road is only marginally quieter than Drayton Green station in Ealing (23,270 entries and exits), which is part of the little-used two-mile branch line between West Ealing and Greenford.
Passenger numbers at Sudbury & Harrow Road station were more than 4,000 times lower than those at Liverpool Street, the busiest train station in the country with 98,015,658 entries and exits.
South Greenford station, also part of the Greenford branch line, which is operated by two-carriage Great Western Railway trains, was third with 52,212 entries and exits.
Other stations in the London “reverse” top 10 are:
• Sudbury Hill Harrow – also part of Chiltern’s network to Marylebone – with 53,868 entries and exits.
• Morden South, which is mainly used by passengers on Thameslink’s “Sutton loop” to reach Wimbledon station, with 75,948 entries and exits.
• Coulsdon Town, which is served by Southern trains to and from London Bridge, had 97,562 entries and exits.
• Birkbeck station in Beckenham, which is served by Southern trains to London Bridge or Crystal Palace, had 105,178 entries and exits.
• Reedham station in Purley, a Southern station with connections to London Bridge and Tattenham Corner, had 105,708 entries and exits.
• Castle Bar Park, the third station on the Greenford branch line to feature in the top 10, had 112,884 entries and exits.
• Crews Hill in Enfield – a Green Belt area known for its horticulture, which has recently been earmarked by a Government taskforce as a potential site of a new town – took 10th position with 119,492 entries and exits.
Looking beyond Greater London, White Notley in Essex had the least number of passengers of any station with a direct connection to London (7,660 entries and exits in 2024/25).
The journey from White Notley, on the Braintree branch line, to Liverpool Street takes 52 minutes and is operated by Greater Anglia.
Other little-used stations with London connections include Faygate, Warnham and Kemsing.
