Woolwich Elizabeth Line station almost as popular as Canary Wharf in first year
Figures out today showing passenger usage of stations across the country show strong numbers at Elizabeth line stations with Woolwich proving almost as popular as Canary Wharf.
Woolwich saw 8.34 million journeys up to 31st March 2023 with Canary Wharf at 9.9 million.
Abbey Wood recorded 7.12 million journeys albeit alongside National Rail. One curious thing is that interchanges between Southeastern Metro and the Elizabeth line were not recorded accorded to this extract today.
Custom House saw 5.27 million journeys and it’s revealing how the approach of TfL and DfT-run Southeastern differed once the Elizabeth line opened.
Transport for London increased services along the DLR Beckton branch up to every five minutes improving connections to the Elizabeth line at Custom House.
Southeastern on the other hand under the control of central government cut services in December 2022 running through Abbey Wood linking to the Elizabeth line. This saw the longest service gaps for decades at 27 minutes from areas of growth in northwest Kent such as Dartford while also axing rounder services from the Sidcup line.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere on the line Tottenham Court Road saw 34,900,000 journeys while Bond Street which opened later than the rest of the core saw 19,400,000.
As covered earlier Liverpool Street jumped to the country’s most used station with 80.4 million journeys (Elizabeth line and the mainline station).
Future growth looks assured and we know that since March the Elizabeth line has continued to grow.
Housing, offices and shops
Abbey Wood’s numbers are impressive given interchanges are not measured and many homes nearby were demolished for a stalled redevelopment from Peabody.
In the past year one site has completed but many more remain to be built.
Woolwich of course remains a hotbed of development both underway and proposed.
Next year is set to see major projects such as Woolwich Exchange begin near the Elizabeth line station.
A major redevelopment of homes around Custom House station has also been given the green light by Newham Council.
The Excel Centre alongside is also seeing expansion underway.
Canary Wharf too is finally seeing action at North Quay directly beside the Elizabeth line station after many years of land lying empty.
A life sciences block will be the first of a number to rise bringing thousands of homes, offices, shops and public space.
As ever I’ll be keeping tabs of progress and documenting what’s happening on this site.
The line was delayed for decades and then missed its eventual 2018 opening but now it’s here, areas along the route are seeing huge benefits.
Running a site alone takes time and a fair bit of money. Adverts are far from enough to cover it and my living costs as a private renter.
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Not surprised that The Liz Line station has seen an increase in passengers
Years of SE not bothering to run a decent service has added to this, but you forgot to mention that the popular Charing Cross trains were axed and this is partly why people gave up on SE metro services
Not bad for a station that was originally never meant to be built.
There is an emergency escape shaft at the eastern end of the platforms at Woolwich.
You have to wonder if there is a way of getting the second entrance/exit but maybe the developers in that area need to finance it.