Greenwich rail line saw strong growth before pandemic

Today’s the day when annual railway usage figures are released for every station in the country.

In keeping with past years I’ve gone through and looked up stations in south east London. Let’s look at the Greenwich line: of 13 stations between Dartford and Deptford, 11 saw growth. Plumstead saw the largest percentage increase.

It should be noted this is mainly before the pandemic though not entirely as figures run up to 31st March 2020.

Dartford – up 0.8 per cent to 4.7 million

Slade Green – up 3.3 per cent to 990k

Erith – down 2.6 per cent to 1.01 million

Belvedere – down 1.8 per cent to 1.2 million

Abbey Wood – up 1.5 per cent to 3.83 million

Plumstead – up 10.4% to 1.8 million

Plumstead station

Woolwich Arsenal – up 0.4 per cent to 4.4 million

Woolwich Dockyard – up 7.7 per cent to 532k

Charlton – up 1.7 per cent to 1.7 million

Westcombe Park – up 7.7 per cent to 1.1 million

Maze Hill – up 10.3 per cent to 1.4 million

Greenwich – up 4 per cent to 3.78 million

Deptford – up 8.6 per cent to 1.9 million

Woolwich Arsenal station

The busiest station served only by one line (so excluding Dartford) is Woolwich Arsenal followed by Abbey Wood, which is surprisingly above Greenwich. Growth in the Greenwich area was very strong, with Westcombe Park and Maze Hill seeing large percentage rises.

Deptford continues its strong growth. It has seen huge growth over the past decade, including a near doubling since 2017. Methodology changes play a part, though mass housebuilding in the area have seen growth.

This year’s figures will of course be a horror show. How things pick up next year and beyond is the big question.

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J Smith

I've lived in south east London most of my life growing up in Greenwich borough and working in the area for many years. The site has contributors on occasion and we cover many different topics. Living and working in the area offers an insight into what is happening locally.

6 thoughts on “Greenwich rail line saw strong growth before pandemic

  • The Greenwich line has a good frequent service now.

    Much different to when I started work in 1972 and travelled from Maze Hill. Trains were half hourly. Slam doors, compartments and standing room only.

    Reply
  • I see even “unattended” stations are up, too!

    Reply
  • Passenger numbers up in abbeywood, woolwich stations. Not to work out just look at the building going on, hense rising population, not hard to work out is it.

    Reply
    • There has been no net increase in homes in Abbey Wood – in fact a net decrease as Thamesmead is being demolished. The factor of relevance if not just increases but levels of increases and what factors at play – other areas of high growth have seen less substantial increases.

      Reply
  • They need to put barriers in seeing as stations with barriers and/or interchange with the DLR where passengers need to touch in are 3.8m+ whereas it’s half that for stations without barriers.

    Reply
  • From Charlton towards Dartford the stations are on two lines: Cannon Street to Dartford via Greenwich and Charing Cross to Dartford via Lewisham and Blackheath. The other stations are on two lines if you count the Thameslink trains from beyond St Pancras.

    Reply

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