please empty your brain below
If the criminally-wasteful abandonment of the Northern Heights tube conversion had not happened, N10 would have had several stations - Alexandra Palace Station (just), Muswell Hill station and Cranley Gardens Station.

Steve | 04.08.21 - 8:16 a.m. | #

TN16 may be station-less (at least within Greater London), but the TN postcode area does have one station, at Knockholt (TN14 7HR).

timbo | 04.08.21 - 8:19 a.m. | #

TN16 is stationless even beyond Greater London.

The TN postcode area has 51 stations across London, Kent and East Sussex.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 04.08.21 - 8:22 a.m. | #

I'm surprised that WC postcodes have in total less than 11 tube stations. I knew it was quite a small postcode area but didn’t realise it was that small!

David | 04.08.21 - 8:41 a.m. | #

Of course, someone has to be pedantic and point out that postcodes are lists of delivery points grouped geographically, not definitions of geographical space. Therefore, an exit from Stratford station would only be “in” E20 if Royal Mail delivered letters to it (as would a tree or lamp post). This doesn’t detract from your interesting work, but is worth bearing in mind.

dg writes: Above the station exit, Marks & Spencer has the postcode E20 1EH.

Baldassaro | 04.08.21 - 8:52 a.m. | #

I live in IG5, one of the 12 'desert' districts. My nearest station - Fairlop - is 25-minute walk away. Barkingside and Hainault are slightly longer 30-minute walks.

Alan S | 04.08.21 - 8:59 a.m. | #

Is there a reason why WC is omitted from the tables?

dg writes: WC never reaches double figures.The tables only show the top 10.

Tony | 04.08.21 - 9:07 a.m. | #

Going on from Baldassaro's point, getting deliveries made to Underground stations can be decidedly challenging. Suburban stations generally have an identifiable building at street level with an address, but quite a few in central London are entirely below ground with just staircases visible; Piccadilly Circus is a good example. You are then at the mercy of the amount of common sense held by the person making the delivery.

Andrew S | 04.08.21 - 9:09 a.m. | #

Thamesmead is a good example of whatever the opposite of Station Focused Development might be called. Given it is wholly post-war built, the lack of any station there really is shameful. This has undoubtedly contributed towards it not fulfilling its immense potential.

Will | 04.08.21 - 9:12 a.m. | #

Interesting post. I'm surprised that station density trumps size of postcode area quite so convincingly.

Postcode spotter | 04.08.21 - 9:15 a.m. | #

Postcode spotter - does it really? If that were so, WC and EC would be higher than they are. E and SE are quite large postcode areas.

It might be interesting to see how this distribution has changed over the years.

anonymous | 04.08.21 - 9:20 a.m. | #

TW10 not so obvious, as it covers more than Richmond Park. It also includes Petersham, Ham, and a large chunk of Richmond (but not Richmond station). North Sheen station is right on the (wrong side of) the boundary

timbo | 04.08.21 - 9:36 a.m. | #

Are IG9 and IG10 included in those figures, or excluded for being outside London?

dg writes: London stations only.

James Matcham | 04.08.21 - 9:44 a.m. | #

I find it amazing that Thamesmead has no station of any kind. How are people living there supposed to travel?

Cornish Monkey | 04.08.21 - 9:49 a.m. | #

I remember the big gap in the tube map for East London being filled with Crossrail & DLR, and with all the developments happing since the Olympics these results really don't surprise me.

Whereas in HA all rail services head into Central London which means having to travel around the outskirts of the area and to neighbouring postcodes, especially NW for Brent Cross for instance, by bus - or more likely by car.

Cornish Cockney | 04.08.21 - 10:01 a.m. | #

I wonder how the figures would decrease if the bar was set a little higher, to exclude stations which don't have Oyster/contactless and have a service frequency less than every 20mins across a core 16-18 hour day. To make the comparison more like for like. A few tube stations less potentially, but I would guess low double digit train stations.

MilesT | 04.08.21 - 12:51 p.m. | #

Regarding the lack of rail access to Thamesmead, the post-war New Towns may provide a parallel. The planners didn’t want them to become dormitory towns for the nearest city - the intention was that people should both live and work in them. So transport links to cities weren’t vital (and possibly should be discouraged). For example, Basildon didn’t get its own station until 1974, even though its construction started in the 1950s, and Skelmersdale still hasn’t got one. Perhaps similar thinking was at work in Thamesmead.

Baldassaro | 04.08.21 - 2:48 p.m. | #

My apologies to everyone, seen and unseen, who didn't think today's post was sufficiently rigorous.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 04.08.21 - 7:43 p.m. | #

FYI, SE28's border is a 1 minute walk from Plumstead station. Furthermore, both Plumstead bus garage and McDonald's are in SE28. Basically, Thamesmead West is really North Plumstead.

Gman | 04.08.21 - 9:13 p.m. | #

I live in UB9, no station here.

dg writes: Denham station is in UB9.

Johnny C | 04.08.21 - 9:31 p.m. | #

There would have been a station in RM7 had the GER's proposed Crowlands station ever been built.

Silent Hunter | Homepage | 04.08.21 - 9:49 p.m. | #

I think the UB1 and UB11 postcodes are also void of any train stations.

dg writes: UB11 added, thanks.
Southall's UB2 but on the boundary of UB1.

ak121 | 04.08.21 - 9:59 p.m. | #

There’s very initial feasibility studies underway looking at extending DLR to Thamesmead. At least it will have a Crossrail station in neighbouring Abbey Wood which dramatically improves connectivity.

I’m not aware of any other transport projects which would serve postcodes currently unserved.

David | 04.08.21 - 10:30 p.m. | #

re new towns, Milton Keynes was originally built without a station, I was involved in the consultation of whether one should be added, and if so where. That was probably in the late 70s. It's difficult to believe now, considering how many people choose to live there because of the easy commute into Euston.

amber | 05.08.21 - 5:49 a.m. | #

I guessed E before I read your blog article and was pleasantly surprised to see I was right! Though E7 is not well served.

dg writes: E7 is averagely served, with 3 stations.

Andrew Jarman | 05.08.21 - 7:20 a.m. | #

Because people, rather than postcodes, use trains, it might be more instructive to look at the number of stations per head of resident population. I can't post a table here, but I've done the maths, and can share if you'd like.

The EC and W districts are the clear winner and runner-up on stations per head, whichever stations you count - but that's because whilst almost no-one lives in them, the working populations are huge.

Amongst the less-central postcodes, HA wins on the tube/tube+DLR measures, but is pushed down to fifth by NW and E once all TfL stations are counted.

SE London is near the bottom of the league on all measures, even when mainline stations are counted. But we'd only need stations if we wanted to leave - and why would you ever want to leave SE London?!

Rob | 06.08.21 - 6:45 p.m. | #











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