London St Pancras tops list of Europe’s best train stations
Europe’s best train station for passengers has been revealed, with London St Pancras taking the top spot.
A new survey from the Consumer Choice Centre has ranked Europe’s fifty largest train stations by a series of metrics including accessibility, cleanliness, number of platforms, hospitality and number of strike days, to give a composite score out of 139.
St Pancras topped the list with a score of 116, thanks to its low number of strike days, international connectivity, and convenience for passengers.
No other UK station made the top 10, with Birmingham New Street coming in 12th with a score of 93. London Bridge came 15th, London Victoria 20th, and London Liverpool Street 22nd.
The rest of the top ten was dominated by German stations, with Leipzig, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin and Frankfurt all making the list.
Europe’s top 10 stations for passengers
Station | Score | Passenger volume (per year) |
St Pancras International | 116 | 35.6m |
Zurich Central Station | 111 | 154.6m |
Leipzig Central Station | 110 | 43.8m |
Roma Termini | 108 | 150m |
Munich Central Station | 103 | 127.8m |
Hamburg Central Station | 99 | 200.7m |
Berlin Central Station | 99 | 110m |
Milan Central Station | 96 | 120m |
Moscow Kazansky | 94 | 50.1m |
Frankfurt Central Station | 94 | 164.3m |
Fred Roeder, managing director of the Consumer Choice Center, said the ranking demonstrates the power of offering both practicality and comfort at major railway stations.
“As any traveler knows during peak times, many railway stations struggle with passenger peaks, and that experience trickles down to everyone who takes a train.
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“High points were awarded to the stations that offered great destinations around the continent, but also a healthy mix of shops, restaurants, and conveniences found at the station.
“We also awarded stations that experience the lowest number of strike days, something passengers in many countries could only wish for”.
Europe’s worst 10 stations for passengers
Station | Score | Passenger volume (per year) |
Paris Magenta | 41 | 41.3m |
Copenhagen Norreport | 43 | 53.7m |
Paris Haussmann-Saint-Lazare | 44 | 44.6m |
Paris Chatelet-les-Halles | 58 | 179.9m |
Torino Porta Nuova | 60 | 70m |
Oslo Central Station | 61 | 54.8m |
Dortmund Central Station | 63 | 47.4m |
Berlin Friedrichstrasse | 63 | 76.7m |
Vienna Wien Mitte | 63 | 97.8m |
Helsinki Central Station | 64 | 73.2m |
The bottom of the list was dominated by French stations, with three of the bottom four all located in Paris.
Paris Magenta came last with a score of 43, suffering especially from the number of strikes days that it has been struck by, followed by Denmark’s Copenhagen station, and Haussmann-Saint-Lazare and Chatelet-Les-Halles in Paris.