Yorkshire's busiest railway stations

Millions of passengers a year take the train from cities and towns

Nearly every railway station in Yorkshire is seeing a rise in passenger numbers according to the latest Office of Rail and Road estimates — published in November 2024 for the year to March 2024.

Although passenger numbers are increasing again, the Covid-19 pandemic had a massive impact on passengers using railway stations and numbers have still not recovered to the levels seen before 2019.

Indeed, recovery of the figures is likely to have been hit by strikes by rail workers during the year covered by the figures. Cancelled trains and engineering work on some routes also had an impact on the figures.

The region's busiest stations have mostly remained the same with Leeds at the top of the Yorkshire list. Although Leeds rose from 14th to 12th busiest station in Britain in the previous figures, it has now dropped back to 16th.

Sheffield and York, in second and third place, have similar levels of use and regularly switch position with Sheffield taking second place from York in the latest figures.




Leeds station

 1  Leeds West Yorkshire

24,891,386 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 23,964,156
2021-22 - 19,263,472
2020-21 - 5,853,754
2019-20 - 31,020,744
2018-19 - 30,838,544
2017-18 - 31,107,672
2016-17 - 30,942,592
2015-16 - 29,723,734

Leeds station at New Station Street is a major rail hub for inter-city, regional express and local services. In recent years the station has seen both increasing commuter use and also an increase in passengers having to travel into Leeds and out again through lack of frequency or speed of more direct services to other destinations.
The station is managed by Network Rail. Operators running services from Leeds are LNER, Cross Country, Transpennine Express and Northern

Find out more about Leeds

Sheffield station

 2  Sheffield South Yorkshire

9,449,310 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 8,677,012
2021-22 - 7,205,884
2020-21 - 1,906,820
2019-20 - 10,094,758
2018-19 - 9,907,724
2017-18 - 9,667,514
2016-17 - 9,538,052
2015-16 - 9,213,092

Sheffield railway station at Sheaf Square offers inter-city, regional express and local services. The station is situated on routes from Yorkshire towards the East and West Midlands and South West England. London St Pancras can be reached on a route via the East Midlands, although changing at Doncaster to go to London's King's Cross is sometimes as quick or quicker. There are services to many Yorkshire destinations, including Huddersfield, Leeds and Hull and also to Lincolnshire, Nottingham and through the Derbyshire Peak District to Manchester and Liverpool. The station has a high commuter use, helped by its connectivity with the Sheffield Supertram system which operates into the heart of the city and other destinations.
The station is managed by East Midlands Railway. Operators running services from Sheffield are East Midlands Railway, Cross Country, Transpennine Express and Northern. The station also has a Stagecoach Supertram stop.

Find out more about Sheffield

York station

 3  York City of York

9,185,236 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 8,862,978
2021-22 - 8,091,546
2020-21 - 1,836,500
2019-20 - 10,089,306
2018-19 - 9,990,538
2017-18 - 9,833,864
2016-17 - 9,264,090
2015-16 - 8,848,652

The present York station at Station Road layed claim to being the largest station in the world at the time it opened in 1877. The station is on the East Coast main line between London King's Cross, North East England and Scotland, with services also towards the Midlands and South West England, expresses towards Leeds, Huddersfield, Manchester and Liverpool with destinations in the opposite direction including Scarborough, Middlesbrough and Saltburn-by-the-Sea. There are also stopping services to Leeds, to Harrogate and Hull via Selby.
The station is managed by LNER. Operators running services from York are LNER, Cross Country, Grand Central, TransPennine Express and Northern.

Find out more about York

Doncaster station

 4  Doncaster South Yorkshire

3,915,952 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 3,634,522
2021-22 - 3,519,786
2020-21 - 890,238
2019-20 - 3,946,406
2018-19 - 3,917,948
2017-18 - 3,857,370
2016-17 - 3,825,644
2015-16 - 3,751,802

Doncaster station is a hub on the East Coast Main Line which connects London to York, North East England and Scotland. Just north of Doncaster some trains branch from the main route to head to West Yorkshire destinations, including Leeds, or eastwards towards Hull. Transpennine Express services from Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield call here on their route to North East Lincolnshire. Northern operate services to several destinations, including stations to Adwick-le-Street, Sheffield, Hull, Bridlington and to Lincoln. East Midlands Railway operate services through Lincolnshire to Peterborough and a Cross Country route from Newcastle operates via Doncaster to Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham, Oxford and Reading.
The station is managed by LNER. Operators running services are LNER, Transpennine Express, Northern, Hull Trains, Grand Central, East Midlands Railway and Cross Country.

Find out more about Doncaster

Huddersfield station

 5  Huddersfield West Yorkshire

3,021,982 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 3,020,630
2021-22 - 3,041,816
2020-21 - 1,025,712
2019-20 - 4,769,384
2018-19 - 4,897,612
2017-18 - 5,100,976
2016-17 - 5,092,542
2015-16 - 5,041,600

A magnificent Grade I listed building in St George's Square, Huddersfield station is the second biggest rail hub in West Yorkshire after Leeds with more than 200 trains a day. The through line offers local and express services to Manchester stations and to Dewsbury and Leeds. There are also express trains continuing to Manchester Airport and Liverpool in a westward direction and to destinations including York, Hull, Scarborough, Saltburn-by-the-Sea via Middlesbrough and Redcar, and to Newcastle heading east. The station also has a commuter line to Huddersfield-area villages on the Penistone line which is also its main but slow route to Barnsley and Sheffield in South Yorkshire. Huddersfield also provides services via Mirfield to Wakefield Kirkgate and Castleford and via Brighouse and Halifax to Bradford.
The station is managed by TransPennine Express. Operators running services are TransPennine Express and Northern.

Find out more about Huddersfield

Hull station

 6  Hull Hull

2,639,696 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 2,383,442
2021-22 - 1,993,364
2020-21 - 538,196
2019-20 - 2,382,772
2018-19 - 2,356,812
2017-18 - 2,514,004
2016-17 - 2,383,244
2015-16 - 2,251,834

Find out more about Kingston upon Hull

Bradford Interchange

 7  Bradford Interchange West Yorkshire

2,328,886 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 2,224,912
2021-22 - 1,762,388
2020-21 - 662,282
2019-20 - 2,675,278
2018-19 - 2,609,372
2017-18 - 2,768,524
2016-17 - 2,976,052
2015-16 - 2,993,340

Bradford Interchange at Bridge Street is the southernmost of the two terminus stations at either side of Bradford city centre. The station is next to the city's bus station and offers local trains to Leeds, Brighouse, Huddersfield, Halifax and Calder Valley stations towards Manchester Victoria or Preston. Services also continue beyond Leeds to York and Hull. Bradford Interchange is also the terminus of Grand Central train services to London King's Cross.
The station is managed by Northern. Operators running services from Bradford Interchange are Northern and Grand Central.

Find out more about Bradford

Wakefield Westgate station

 8  Wakefield Westgate West Yorkshire

2,057,144 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,937,112
2021-22 - 1,789,788
2020-21 - 542,368
2019-20 - 2,406,928
2018-19 - 2,472,506
2017-18 - 2,476,988
2016-17 - 2,540,890
2015-16 - 2,519,480

Find out more about Wakefield

Meadowhall station

 9  Meadowhall South Yorkshire

1,678,346 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,452,778
2021-22 - 1,344,910
2020-21 - 379,456

Find Meadowhall on map.

Halifax station

 10  Halifax West Yorkshire

1,620,970 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,418,602
2018-19 - 1,842,644
2017-18 - 1,948,692
2016-17 - 1,992,624

Find out more about Halifax

Harrogate station

 11  Harrogate North Yorkshire

1,617,306 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,502,560
2021-22 - 1,211,846

Find out more about Harrogate

Middlesbrough station

 12  Middlesbrough

1,466,884 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,376,410

Find out more about Middlesbrough

Bradford Forster Square station

 13  Bradford Forster Square West Yorkshire

1,425,866 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,165,010
2021-22 - 1,301,266
2020-21 - 614,708
2019-20 - 1,946,622
2018-19 - 1,994,854
2017-18 - 2,027,276
2016-17 - 2,112,894
2015-16 - 2,065,658

Find out more about Bradford

Barnsley Interchange

 14  Barnsley South Yorkshire

1,397,540 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,213,334

Find out more about Barnsley

Keighley station

 15  Keighley West Yorkshire

1,325,068 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,290,608
2019-20 - 1,570,638

Find out more about Keighley

Skipton station

 16  Skipton North Yorkshire

1,178,096 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,098,966

Find out more about Skipton

Ilkley station

 17  Ilkley West Yorkshire

1,175,906 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,118,700

Find out more about Ilkley

Shipley station

 18  Shipley West Yorkshire

1,129,942 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,106,944

Find out more about Shipley

Dewsbury station

 19  Dewsbury West Yorkshire

1,002,154 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 1,031,842

Find out more about Dewsbury

 20  Bingley West Yorkshire

938,782 Passengers per year 2023-2024*

2022-23 - 920,000

Find out more about Bingley

* Figures based on Office of Rail and Road highest estimates of station entries and exits, annual figures between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2024. Latest figures published November 2024.
Contains public sector information licensed under the  Open Government Licence v3.0.

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