Woolwich Elizabeth line station use still growing say TfL
With plans for new towers above the eastern end of Woolwich station set to be decided next week I thought it opportune to see how passengers numbers are shaping up.
We know as a whole the Elizabeth line continues to see strong growth and a recent Transport for London report shows passenger numbers exceed expectations again this year.
Handily Transport for London also publish daily station journey numbers with figures updated to 11 October 2025.
And of Woolwich itself? Data starts on 1 January 2024 and looking at winter months we seeing averages around 19k on weekdays with the odd days surpassing 20k.
Numbers naturally fluctuate around half term, Easter holidays and summer.
Heading to autumn last year and in September 2024 once holidays had ended we see numbers averaging around 21k journeys between Tuesday and Fridays. Some days it would top 22k. Mondays was slightly lower averaging around 19k with Saturdays only shortly behind.
Fast forward again to this year and by summer 22k a day is being surpassed a bit more and on Thursday 3rd July more than 23k journeys were made.
That 23k barrier was again surpassed on Thursday 9th October 2025 with 23,095 journeys made. Weekdays are also now regularly seeing the 22k limit being breached. There’s a definite increase since 2024.
Forthcoming demand
What’s interesting about these number is that it’s before thousands more homes in the vicinity being occupied.
The very first dwellings at a development of almost 2,000 at Lombard Square is now seeing residents move in.
A block with 299 student rooms is looking ready to welcome occupants soon, with work racing ahead on 130 more rooms next door.
Another block of homes and a new college building in Plumstead around 500 metres east of Woolwich station is now approaching completion.
The latest day of data is 11th October 2025 which shows 21,817 journeys on a Saturday. An extremely high number for the weekend.
Though being a weekend journeys are likely to be spread out across the day compared with rush hour focused weekdays.
And a short distance away two towers are nearing completion.
This is beside the Thames at the old Waterfront car park site.
There’s also a mass amount of plans imminent as covered yesterday. Even since writing it yesterday further details on a nearby development have appeared today regarding cranes on the Brookhill estate redevelopment suggesting work there will start soon.
Data
Of course one issue with daily usage data is we don’t know exactly what time people travelled. Looking at daily numbers isn’t exactly the most scientific method. Then again the Greenwich report before the Planning Board next week that states no second entrance is needed at Woolwich Elizabeth line station itself isn’t great, only referencing evening journeys and not the morning peak.
And being taken a year ago isn’t much use given growth seen since.
Nor does it have any suggestions of how to mitigate passenger flow, merely claiming passengers are alighting in different areas (i.e. the wrong parts of the train) compared to prior modelling. In effect the station is not at capacity but delays occur as passengers are exiting trains from carriages positioned near escalators.
That seems a major flaw with the modelling. Passengers and particularly commuters will often stand to depart a train nearest the available exit or exits. With fully walk-through trains such as on the Elizabeth line it was a given. Being the second to last stop on the line also means trains tend to have a tad more space to move (not much mind given how busy they still are to Abbey Wood).
So in effect there’s two issues at play: Firstly overall demand is still rising and shows no sign of abating with housing growth around the station and in addition how passengers behave when alighting. Something a second entrance and exit could assist – though it doesn’t seem forthcoming.
A decision on four blocks above the eastern end of the station is set to be made by Greenwich Council’s Planning Board next week.
It’s rather bizarre that the council report justifies the exclusion of a second entrance stating it’s a result of passengers disembarking in the wrong spots causing congestion and so no new exit required. Well that’s ok then. Just ask nicely for people not to use the nearest doors?
If there’s still congestion due to that issue it’s obvious another exit the other end of the platform would disperse crowds more quickly and is in fact a reason to build a new exit rather than the opposite.
I wonder if in time overcrowding will see potential housing east of the station blocked? It’ll be ever more annoying for residents moving to homes in that direction having to go all the way around to the western end and then wait in crowds to reach the platform. Ditto when departing trains.
There’s scope for much more housing just east of the station mere metres away at what are currently big sheds used for car storage, a dance club, gym etc which are far from the industrial uses as originally planned. The gym and dance club can be accommodated in new mixed-use blocks on site or other town centre locations. Car storage is not need beside a £18bn railway. Plenty of still vacant land designated for industry in west Thamesmead.
A joined-up plan would designate some of this land for housing/mixed use and utilise CIL and S106 to cover some of the cost for a second entrance. We’ll have to see what RBG’s Local Plan states about this land but given its close proximity to Woolwich’s three station it seems ideal for housing.
It would however add pressure onto the sole entrance on the Liz line – but offers a great chance to help fund station improvements.
Almost every stttion in the central section has waits around doors 3-6 and 21-25. Anyone using it frequently will know this and adapt, same as they do on any other line.
It’s a mild blessing Abbey Wood loads from one end and Woolwich the other, but not enough some days.
Eg this morning, Woolwich was so packed there were queues at nearly every door for the next train (which was standing room only on arrival).
The second entrance is obviously needed, but I’m not sure it’ll be enough given the capacity constraints without a more frequent service (not really possible given 2 branches)
Improved services are on the way. Saturday gets an increase from December and 10 more trains have been ordered.
You can see just our busy Wookwich Elizabeth Line Station is by the shear amount of people leaving the station and crossing the road every few minutes. Then waiting at the bus stops in Woolwich to get their buses home.
In the peak hours most bus routes serving Wookwich for the Elizabeth Line could do with additional journeys that would be justified to meet the demand oh growing passenger numbers travelling to use the Elizabeth Line.
Local demand for the Elizabeth Line is also set to increase further with the completion of new homes and student accommodation in Woolwich..
Seems to forget the massive developments by Plumstead and the planned ones in Charlton and Woolwich barracks.
An idea could be to create this new entrance on the east side which would include a foot tunnel for the other side of the road. This tunnel would be greatly used and prevent any pedestrian injury.
I don’t like it meself the Jubilee Line iss so much better. Ere are we need parkin near stations like Woolwich, blue badge olders ave rights n iss not juss abahrt wot the upper middle class want n all.
It has nothing to do with class it is about providing a efficient public transport system for us all. Which is better integrated to make travelling around easier..
I too like the Jubilee Line from North Greenwich which takes me to Green Park. It just a shame the Charing Cross Underground Station is no longer served by the Jubilee Line.
Greenwich Council never miss an opportunity to disappoint. Still waiting, with only a few days left to get this confirmed.
Simply securing the area for future exit development would at least be a step in the right direction.
The Elizabeth Line has seen more new development on its network and 10 extra 9-Car Class 345s to be in service to add the total of Class 345 trains from 70 to 80. And to provide extra capacity since the Elizabeth Line was introduced in service and came into service in 2022.
Striking levels of use, when we bear in mind this station was a fairly late addition to the plans for Crossrail and nearly didn’t happen at all. I think there’s a fading appetite in TfL for second entrances in cases where they need a second gate line – because that means more staffing needed to ensure security, and a sometimes-unstaffed second entrance probably increases disturbances and losses linked to fare evasion.
It’s no problem for stations like Battersea on the Northern Line, where the newly opened second exit feeds to a lower shared concourse and the same gate line – but the (rumoured) second exit that is passively provided for at the back of similarly recent Nine Elms looks like a non starter as it would not feed in to the existing gate line. I suspect the same is at play here, given the existing gate line is at street level – short sighted as it may be, there will be concerns that a second entrance would make the station cost more to run.
Would be nice if Woolwich station on the Elizabeth Line could be renamed as Woolwich Central. Since it was built and it serves Woolwich town centre and is near to Woolwich Arsenal and Woolwich Dockyard stations. That both stations do serve Woolwich.