A couple of daysago this little graph surfaced online displaying some interesting statistics. It’s a bar chart of the busiest train stations in the world, measured by the number of people who pass through them each year.
Perhaps coming as no surprise to those who have experienced its mind-numbingly complex transport complexes, Japan tops the list. What is surprising is the degree to which Japan dominates this list, with all but six stations residing here, and about half of them in the Tokyo area alone.
Unless you've lived in or visited Japan it's difficult to comprehend just how many people use the trains here everyday.
#1 Shinjuku Station (Tokyo, Japan) – Approx. 1,260,000,000
Many people are often in awe of Shinjuku Station’s massive size or complain about its complexity, built to handle over one million daily commuters.
Here’s a perfectly simple map of the place:
The above map just represents the JR. East portion of the station and doesn't include the four other private railways that also use the station then multiply that about three times and you'll have some understanding just how big Shinjuku station really is.
Here’s the full list of 51 stations. If you don’t live in Japan there’s a slight chance your country is on there.
1 Shinjuku (Tokyo, Japan)
2 Shibuya (Tokyo, Japan)
3 Ikebukuro (Tokyo, Japan)
4 Umeda (Osaka, Japan)
5 Yokohama (Kanagawa, Japan)
6 Kita-Senju (Tokyo, Japan)
7 Nagoya (Aichi, Japan)
8 Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)
9 Shinagawa (Tokyo, Japan)
10 Takadanobaba (Tokyo, Japan)
11 Namba (Osaka, Japan)
12 Shinbashi (Tokyo, Japan)
13 Tennouji (Osaka, Japan)
14 Akihabara (Tokyo, Japan)
15 Kyoto (Kyoto, Japan)
16 Sannomiya (Kobe, Japan)
17 Omiya (Saitama, Japan)
18 Yurakucho-Hibiya (Tokyo, Japan)
19 Nishi-Funabashi (Chiba, Japan)
20 Meguro (Tokyo, Japan)
21 Daimon-Hamamatsucho (Tokyo, Japan)
22 Ueno (Tokyo, Japan)
23 Oshiage (Tokyo, Japan)
24 Paris Nord (Paris, France)
25 Taipei Railway Station (Taipei,Taiwan)
26 Machida (Tokyo, Japan)
27 Gare de Chatelet (Paris, France)
28 Kawasaki (Kanagawa, Japan)
29 Roma Termini Railway Station (Rome, Italy)
30 Tamachi-Mita (Tokyo, Japan)
31 Kyobashi (Osaka, Japan)
32 Funabashi (Chiba, Japan)
33 Ayase (Tokyo, Japan)
34 Hamburg Central Station (Hamburg, Germany)
35 Yoyogi-Uehara (Tokyo, Japan)
36 Kamata (Kamata, Japan)
37 Gotanda (Tokyo, Japan)
38 Kichijoji (Tokyo, Japan)
39 Kaneyama (Aichi, Japan)
40 Musashikosugi (Kanagawa, Japan)
41 Fujisawa (Kanagawa, Japan)
42 Oimachi (Tokyo, Japan)
43 Nakano (Tokyo, Japan)
44 Tachikawa (Tokyo, Japan)
45 Iidabashi (Tokyo, Japan)
46 Kashiwa (Chiba, Japan)
47 Hakata (Fukuoka, Japan)
48 Tsuruhashi (Osaka, Japan)
49 Nishi-Nippori (Tokyo, Japan)
50 Nakameguro (Tokyo, Japan)
51 Zurich Main Station (Zurich, Switzerland)