Bakerloo line
Brown on the map: 25 stations between Elephant & Castle and Harrow & Wealdstone, by way of the West End.
About the Bakerloo line
The Bakerloo line is a single north–south route of 25 stations linking Elephant & Castle in south London with Harrow & Wealdstone in suburban north-west London. It has no branches, so every train follows the same path, and it is printed in brown on the tube map. Fifteen of its stations are underground; the name is a contraction of its original title, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway.
Heading north from the southern terminus, trains call at Lambeth North and Waterloo, cross the river to Embankment and Charing Cross, then climb through Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus to Baker Street. Beyond Paddington the line runs out through Maida Vale and Kilburn; from Queen’s Park to Harrow & Wealdstone it is above ground and shares its tracks with the London Overground, parallel to the West Coast Main Line.
In practice it is a West End line that also strings together main-line termini: Waterloo, Paddington, Marylebone and Charing Cross are all on it. Waterloo was its busiest station in 2024 with 77.39 million entries and exits, ahead of Paddington (56.37 million) and Oxford Circus (53.18 million). On the outer section every station from Queen’s Park to Harrow is shared with the Overground, which makes the line a local route for Willesden, Harlesden and Wembley as much as a way into town.
Bakerloo line stations
25 stations, 8 of them with a change to another tube line (marked with a navy ring and the colours of the other lines).
Elephant & Castle to Harrow & Wealdstone
Main route, 25 stations
History
The route had its origins in two failed projects: the pneumatic Waterloo and Whitehall Railway of 1865 and the Charing Cross and Waterloo Electric Railway of 1882. Work on the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway began in June 1898, financed by the mining entrepreneur and company promoter Whitaker Wright. After his conviction in 1904, construction stopped for a few months and resumed only when Charles Yerkes and the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) took the project over.
The first section opened on 10 March 1906 between Baker Street and Kennington Road, the station now called Lambeth North, and trains reached Elephant & Castle on 5 August. In everyday use the name had already contracted to “Bakerloo”, and the company changed its official title to match in July 1906. By 1913 the line had moved west from Baker Street, with interchanges at Marylebone and Paddington and a new station at Edgware Road.
In 1915 it reached Queen’s Park, where it joined the LNWR line towards Watford Junction. Bakerloo trains ran to Watford from 1917 until 1982, when the service was cut back to Stonebridge Park; services as far as Harrow & Wealdstone were gradually restored from 1984, and the present all-day service dates from 1989. A second branch arrived on 20 November 1939, when the Bakerloo took over the Metropolitan line’s service to Stanmore through new tunnels from Baker Street. Congestion where the two branches met at Baker Street led to that branch being handed to the new Jubilee line on 1 May 1979.
The south end never moved. An extension to Camberwell was approved in 1931 and postponed in April 1937 because of rising material prices; a scheme to Camberwell appeared on a 1949 Underground map but was suspended in 1950 when costs reached £6.25 million. One technical curiosity from the early years: until 1917 the line ran with its conductor-rail polarity reversed, because it shared a power source with the District Railway. The line celebrated its centenary on 10 March 2006.
Trains and service
TfL lists one route pattern, Elephant & Castle to Harrow & Wealdstone, but the northern end sees far fewer trains: in the busiest hour on weekdays 18 trains leave Elephant & Castle against 6 from Harrow & Wealdstone (16 and 4 on Saturdays, 17 and 4 on Sundays). Some services turn back at Queen’s Park, using covered depot tracks at the station. On weekdays and Saturdays the first train leaves Elephant & Castle at 05:37 and the last at 00:23; on Sundays they run from 07:16 to 23:37. From Harrow & Wealdstone the first weekday departure is at 05:39 and the last at 00:31 (Saturday 05:47 to 00:31, Sunday 07:19 to 00:13). Times for other stations are on our tube times page.
There is no Night Tube on the Bakerloo line. Key changes include the Northern line at Charing Cross and Elephant & Castle, the Central line and Victoria line at Oxford Circus, and the Jubilee, Northern and Waterloo & City line at Waterloo.
The trains
The entire service is worked by 1972 Stock, trains that came to the Bakerloo after the Jubilee line received 1983 Stock. Because the line runs deep underground in small-diameter tunnels, they are the smaller of the two train sizes used on the network. Maintenance is done at Stonebridge Park depot, opened on 9 April 1979; there are also depots at London Road, between Elephant & Castle and Lambeth North, and at Queen’s Park, where trains in passenger service run through the North Shed – unique on the Underground. A four-year refurbishment began in early 2016, replacing seat moquette, handrails and lighting. Since the last Class 483 trains were withdrawn on the Isle of Wight, the 1972 Stock has been the oldest non-heritage train running in the United Kingdom; in February 2026 TfL announced plans to replace the entire fleet by 2030.
Frequently asked questions
The line opened as the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway. In everyday use that contracted to “Bakerloo” so quickly that the company adopted it as the official name in July 1906, about four months after the first trains ran on 10 March 1906.
No, it is not part of the Night Tube. On weekdays and Saturdays the last train leaves Elephant & Castle at 00:23 and Harrow & Wealdstone at 00:31; on Sundays the last departures are at 23:37 and 00:13. Our Night Tube guide lists the lines that do run through Friday and Saturday nights.
Yes. Bakerloo trains continued beyond Harrow & Wealdstone to Watford Junction between 1917 and 1982. The line also ran the branch from Baker Street to Stanmore from 20 November 1939 until 1 May 1979, when it became the first section of the Jubilee line.
Ten of them: Queen’s Park, Kensal Green, Willesden Junction, Harlesden, Stonebridge Park, Wembley Central, North Wembley, South Kenton, Kenton and Harrow & Wealdstone. North of Queen’s Park the two services use the same tracks.
The line uses 1972 Stock, which moved to the Bakerloo once the Jubilee line had newer trains. With the Isle of Wight’s Class 483 units withdrawn, they are the oldest non-heritage trains running in the UK. A refurbishment programme that began in 2016 renewed their seating, handrails and lighting.