United Kingdom railway station categories

Categorisation scheme for railway stations in Great Britain

The 2,597[1] railway stations on the National Rail network in Great Britain are classified into six categories (two of which are each divided into two subcategories) by the Department for Transport. The scheme was devised in 1996[2] and there was a review in 2009 when 106 stations changed categories.[3] The categorisation scheme is owned by Network Rail, the site landlord of most of the stations.[2]

Some stations are in more than one category: for instance, at London St Pancras International, the surface platforms are in category A and the Thameslink platforms are in category C1.

Stations in Scotland are categorised and counted in the totals below, for example Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley are both category A,[2] but are not included in the lists of stations for each category.[3]

## Categorisation scheme

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Category  | Number (in 2011[update])[4] | Description  | Trips per annum  | Examples

|
|
|
|

A | 28 | National hub | over 2 million | Birmingham New Street, London King's Cross
B | 67 | Regional interchange | over 2 million | Guildford, Nottingham
C | C1 | 248 | Important feeder | 0.5–2 million | Grantham, Plymouth
C2 | Burgess Hill, Tamworth
D | 298 | Medium staffed | 0.25–0.5 million | Abergavenny, Penrith
E | 679 | Small staffed | under 0.25 million | Deal, Oakham
F | F1 | 1,200 | Small unstaffed | under 0.25 million | Beccles, Bishop Auckland
F2 | Llanfairpwll, Winchelsea
Total | 2,520 |  |  |

Category C stations are sub-divided into C1 (city or busy junction) and C2 (other busy railheads). The only exception is Worthing, which has not been given a subcategory; it is listed by DfT as "C".[3]

Category F stations are sub-divided into F1 (over 100,000 journeys per annum) and F2 (others).[3]

## See also

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* German railway station categories
* Netherlands railway station categories

## References

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1. ^ "Find a Station". National Rail. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
2. ^ a b c "Part A: Consistent Standards" (PDF). Better Rail Stations. Department for Transport. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
3. ^ a b c d "Part D: Annexes" (PDF). Better Rail Stations. Department for Transport. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
4. ^ "Network RUS Stations" (PDF). Network Route Utilisation Strategy, Stations. Network Rail. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2013.

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