Roding Valley, a small station in Buckhurst Hill in the Epping Forest district of Essex, has been identified as the least busy on the London Underground. According to a Freedom of Information request, the station saw about 367 passengers a day in 2025, based on entry and exit tap counts and boarding taps, with precisely 134,632 taps recorded.
Part of the Central Line since 1948
The station, which has been part of the Central Line since 1948, is in Zone 4, just four stops before the line ends at Epping. It is one of only three Tube stations without any ticket barriers, due to space constraints, and has a single ticket machine.
By contrast, the busiest station, Tottenham Court Road, sees 63.4 million travellers a year. Roding Valley also has one of the least frequent services on the network, with tubes running every 20 minutes for most of the day, compared with King's Cross, where trains arrive every one to five minutes.
Why so few passengers?
The station's low usage is partly explained by its proximity to Buckhurst Hill and Woodford stations, which see more frequent trains and are closer to residential areas. As part of the Hainault loop between Chigwell and Woodford, direct trains to central London are limited, and passengers often find it faster to walk or travel to Woodford to catch standard Central Line services.
Mixed views from passengers
On TikTok, reactions to the station are mixed. @valley_chuckwalla said, 'I don’t get why they have such a low-use station,' while @tmft6 commented, 'Seems so weird seeing a tube station so quiet.' @finalmystery called it the 'fare evader dream station,' referring to the lack of barriers. But @dngruxb described it as 'quaint and nice for that last train home,' and @missjonesrbq said, 'I wish every journey was like this!'
Google reviews note the frequent absence of staff, with often only one or no staff present due to infrequent use. The station also lacks step-free access and lifts, which can make it harder or inaccessible for passengers with disabilities. One reviewer, Olga Mas, wrote, 'Delete this station!' while Vishnu Bachani called it 'a very idyllic Tube station,' but noted that 'the proximity to the other branch of the Central Line slightly interrupts the tranquillity.' Daniel Brown said, 'It’s perfect, absolutely perfect.'
For the few hundred commuters who use Roding Valley each day, the trade-offs include 20-minute waits and a lack of step-free access, but the station offers a quiet alternative to the busier parts of the network.
