A LIST of the 20 busiest stations on London Underground and suburban National Rail lines has been published by Transport for London, but some media sources seem to have misunderstood the details.
Many reports are claiming that TfL simply wants passengers to avoid the stations on its ‘busy list’ between 05.45 and 08.15 and again between 16.00 and 17.30.
However, TfL is not especially discouraging travel to any of the listed stations, but is asking passengers not to enter most of them, or try to change trains there.
In a few cases only changing trains is being discouraged, in a bid to maintain social distancing.
Most of the listed stations are on the Underground, such as East Ham, Liverpool Street, Seven Sisters and Walthamstow Central, but Overground stations at Clapham Junction and West Croydon, and DLR stations at Lewisham and Woolwich Arsenal, are also named. In addition, the list includes National Rail stations at Clapham Junction and East Croydon.
Some of the busiest Underground stations in normal times are not on TfL’s list, such as King’s Cross St Pancras, Oxford Circus or Victoria, although the headline message to all passengers using any station is still ‘only travel if your journey is essential’.
TfL has also emphasised its advice about using alternative methods to get around: ‘Where possible, please also consider cycling or walking, including parts of your journey. Please consider getting off a stop or two early to reduce the numbers of people travelling on Tubes and buses. If you arrive in central London at a mainline station, please try to avoid interchanging to Tubes and buses where you can and walk or cycle to complete your journey.’
TfL’s official list in full:
Station Please don’t use these stations for:
East Ham Entry
Barking Entry and Interchange
Brixton Entry
Canada Water Interchange
Canary Wharf LU Interchange
Canning Town Entry and Interchange
Clapham Junction Interchange
East Croydon Entry and Interchange
Lewisham DLR Entry
Leyton Entry
Liverpool Street LU Entry
London Bridge LU Entry
North Acton Interchange
Seven Sisters Entry and Interchange
Stratford Entry and Interchange
Walthamstow Central Interchange
West Croydon Entry
West Ham Interchange
Wood Green Entry
Woolwich Arsenal Entry
The list may change from time to time.