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Best Train Spotting Locations by Rail Video Activity

A live ranking of the busiest places to watch trains, based on Fishplate video views and uploads.

Back to Locations

Train spotting locations are stations, junctions, heritage railways, and lineside viewpoints where rail enthusiasts can watch, film, or photograph trains. This page helps you find the best train spotting locations on Fishplate by ranking busy railway places with real video performance data, so you can discover where the most-watched rail activity is happening right now.

Unlike a static blog list of the best places to watch trains, this page updates based on the selected date range, so you can compare trainspotting hotspots over the last 30, 90, 180, or 365 days. Use it to find popular railway stations, heritage lines, and other places where trainspotters are actively filming and sharing content.

This dashboard ranks locations using videos published in the selected date range, not when videos were indexed.

View counts may lag and the most recent data may not be visible.

Period: 2025-09-16 to 2026-09-15
Busiest locations (VIEWS)
Trend over time (top locations)
Busiest locations table
Location Videos Views Share (VIEWS)
Carlisle 1,337 715,692 5.35%
Crewe 367 565,930 4.23%
Dawlish 79 336,601 2.52%
Severn Valley Railway 260 332,464 2.48%
York 185 277,878 2.08%
Derby 184 265,355 1.98%
Doncaster 571 265,208 1.98%
Newcastle 110 189,061 1.41%
Sheffield 191 180,273 1.35%
Euston 24 170,927 1.28%
Gloucester 77 156,820 1.17%
Kidderminster 79 151,404 1.13%
Leicester 125 146,769 1.10%
Settle 42 141,926 1.06%
Stafford 129 140,509 1.05%
Darlington 38 136,231 1.02%
Leeds 264 135,442 1.01%
Loughborough 42 130,803 0.98%
Carnforth 141 130,709 0.98%
Victoria 6 129,022 0.96%
Carstairs 9 128,815 0.96%
London Bridge 16 121,455 0.91%
Bedford 18 118,107 0.88%
Tamworth 63 117,475 0.88%
Warrington Bank Quay 26 96,830 0.72%
Wimbledon 21 95,286 0.71%
Nuneaton 76 95,021 0.71%
West Ealing 23 94,023 0.70%
Lincoln 338 90,458 0.68%
Bo'ness 65 90,151 0.67%
Gainsborough Lea Road 1,588 89,105 0.67%
Piccadilly 37 87,783 0.66%
Peterborough 182 84,332 0.63%
Scarborough 25 82,687 0.62%
Reading 59 81,447 0.61%
Clapham Junction 56 78,356 0.59%
East Lancashire Railway 64 77,898 0.58%
Manchester Oxford Road 4 77,602 0.58%
Walsall 9 74,784 0.56%
East Finchley 1 65,000 0.49%
Wolverton 18 62,158 0.46%
Hatton 6 61,417 0.46%
Eastleigh 83 61,374 0.46%
Nine Elms 4 61,335 0.46%
Middlesbrough 1 60,467 0.45%
Hatton Cross 2 60,212 0.45%
Longport 14 60,147 0.45%
Tower Gateway 2 59,436 0.44%
Coventry 28 57,764 0.43%
Waterloo 23 57,143 0.43%
Rising locations (vs previous equal period)
Location Δ Share Δ VIEWS
Crewe +2.30pp +247,809
Newcastle +1.10pp +137,424
Euston +1.08pp +138,002
Darlington +0.96pp +127,460
Victoria +0.96pp +128,590
Carstairs +0.96pp +128,135
Gloucester +0.89pp +111,157
Stafford +0.87pp +110,377
Leicester +0.84pp +105,131
Bedford +0.84pp +111,621
London Bridge +0.84pp +110,364
West Ealing +0.69pp +92,137
Doncaster +0.68pp +51,468
Warrington Bank Quay +0.68pp +89,308
Gainsborough Lea Road +0.66pp +88,303
Derby +0.62pp +41,647
Wimbledon +0.61pp +78,327
Scarborough +0.60pp +80,176
Manchester Oxford Road +0.58pp +76,931
Walsall +0.55pp +73,368
Nuneaton +0.54pp +66,509
Reading +0.52pp +67,085
Lincoln +0.51pp +63,839
East Lancashire Railway +0.50pp +65,121
Tamworth +0.49pp +53,260
East Finchley +0.49pp +65,000
Dawlish +0.47pp -774
Wolverton +0.46pp +61,331
Nine Elms +0.46pp +61,335
Hatton Cross +0.45pp +60,212
Middlesbrough +0.45pp +60,036
Tower Gateway +0.44pp +59,436
Peterborough +0.42pp +50,198
Kidderminster +0.41pp +32,829
Hatton +0.41pp +53,154
Northallerton +0.39pp +51,462
Exmouth +0.39pp +50,560
Bewdley +0.38pp +48,932
East Coast Main Line +0.37pp +50,163
Wood Lane +0.37pp +49,838
Milton Keynes Central +0.36pp +47,843
Waterloo +0.36pp +45,868
Shirebrook +0.35pp +46,854
Southwark +0.34pp +45,501
Totteridge & Whetstone +0.34pp +45,643
Longport +0.31pp +37,860
Central Station +0.30pp +38,155
Bristol Parkway +0.30pp +37,184
London Waterloo +0.29pp +36,058
London Paddington +0.29pp +36,444
Top locations by tagged videos
Location Tagged videos Views
Gainsborough Lea Road 1,588 89,105
Carlisle 1,337 715,692
Lawrence Hill 1,121 29,486
Doncaster 571 265,208
Crewe 367 565,930
Lincoln 338 90,458
Leeds 264 135,442
Severn Valley Railway 260 332,464
Felixstowe 220 14,554
Bristol Temple Meads 211 24,744
Sheffield 191 180,273
York 185 277,878
Derby 184 265,355
Peterborough 182 84,332
Clifton Down 168 6,729
Carnforth 141 130,709
Stafford 129 140,509
Leicester 125 146,769
London Gateway 124 2,234
Newcastle 110 189,061
Wellingborough 89 24,017
Eastleigh 83 61,374
Bank 80 48,337
Kidderminster 79 151,404
Dawlish 79 336,601
Gloucester 77 156,820
Nuneaton 76 95,021
Lancaster 76 49,116
Whitemoor Yard 76 2,324
Airport 74 30,229
Northallerton 73 54,216
Ely 68 25,990
Bo'ness 65 90,151
Cambridge North 65 15,499
East Lancashire Railway 64 77,898
Tamworth 63 117,475
Great Central Railway 60 56,904
Reading 59 81,447
Rugby 58 54,720
Keighley 57 14,943
Clapham Junction 56 78,356
High Street 53 21,748
London Euston 52 41,672
Swindon 50 25,646
Stratford 47 56,438
Ashford 47 9,332
West Somerset Railway 47 52,873
Tonbridge 45 21,558
Birmingham New Street 44 38,918
Alfreton 44 1,924

Train Spotting Locations FAQ

Common questions about rankings, stations, and how Fishplate measures trainspotting activity.

The best train spotting locations are places with frequent train movements, a good variety of rolling stock, clear views, and strong interest from rail enthusiasts. On Fishplate, this page helps you discover popular train spotting locations by ranking stations, heritage railways, and other railway hotspots using real video activity and viewing data.

Some of the best UK stations for trainspotting are usually the ones with busy timetables, varied operators, and strong railfan activity. Major interchange stations, important junctions, and well-known filming locations often perform well in the rankings. On Fishplate, you can use this page to see which UK train spotting locations are currently attracting the most views or uploads.

Fishplate ranks train spotting locations using activity from videos published on the platform within the selected date range. The rankings are designed to show which locations are currently the busiest or most popular based on how much content is being uploaded and watched.

They can be based on both. Depending on the selected settings, Fishplate can rank train spotting locations by total views or by number of videos. Ranking by views highlights the locations getting the most attention, while ranking by videos shows where the most content is being posted.

Busiest locations are usually ranked by performance metrics such as views or number of videos during a selected time period. Most tagged locations focus on how often a location is tagged in uploaded content. A location may be heavily tagged by contributors without generating the highest views, so the two rankings can produce different results.

This page updates regularly as new videos and location data are added to Fishplate. Because the rankings depend on the selected date range and the latest published content, positions can change over time as new uploads and views are recorded.