Piccadilly Circus tube station
Bakerloo line and Piccadilly line · Zone 1 · City of Westminster
About Piccadilly Circus station
Nothing of Piccadilly Circus station rises above ground: it is one of the few on the network with no associated surface buildings. It began conventionally, with the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway opening on 10 March 1906 and the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway’s platforms following on 15 December 1906, both reached from a surface booking hall by Leslie Green. Traffic grew from 1.5 million passengers in 1907 to 18 million in 1922, so between February 1925 and 1928 Charles Holden’s sub-surface booking hall and pedestrian subways were built by John Mowlem & Co for more than £500,000, with eleven escalators in two flights down to the two lines. The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, commonly known as Eros, had to be moved to Victoria Embankment Gardens during the work.
Green’s old building closed on 21 July 1929 and was demolished in the 1980s, though parts survive in disused areas shown on London Transport Museum’s ‘Hidden London’ tours. On the Bakerloo line, back-to-back platforms and a single crossover tunnel at the north end let passengers see both platforms at once, a view unique on the network. In the ticket hall, Langlands & Bell’s 2016 artwork Beauty < Immortality commemorates Frank Pick, with a roundel and bronze lettering in the Johnston typeface he commissioned in 1915.
First and last trains from Piccadilly Circus
| Line and direction | Mon–Thu first – last | Friday first – last | Saturday first – last | Sunday first – last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakerloo towards Elephant & Castle or Waterloo | 05:56 – 00:33 | 05:56 – 00:33 | 05:56 – 00:33 | 07:32 – 23:52 |
| Bakerloo towards Queen's Park, Harrow & Wealdstone or Stonebridge Park | 05:45 to Harrow & Wealdstone – 00:31 | 05:45 to Harrow & Wealdstone – 00:31 | 05:45 to Harrow & Wealdstone – 00:31 | 07:24 to Harrow & Wealdstone – 23:45 |
| Piccadilly towards Northfields, Heathrow Terminal 5 or Heathrow Terminal 4 | 05:47 to Heathrow Terminal 5 – 00:32 to Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 | 05:47 – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:38 to Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 |
| Piccadilly towards Cockfosters, Arnos Grove or Oakwood | 05:50 – 00:34 | 05:50 – all night | 24 hours | all night – 00:17 |
Times are TfL’s published timetable departures from this station; on Saturday the list follows TfL’s “Saturdays and public holidays” timetable.
At the busiest hour on a weekday there are up to 18 Bakerloo trains an hour per direction and 24 Piccadilly trains an hour per direction from Piccadilly Circus, counting both directions separately.
Next stations from Piccadilly Circus
Running times between Piccadilly Circus and the adjoining stations, from TfL’s timetable.
| Line | Next station | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Bakerloo | Charing Cross | 1.6 min |
| Bakerloo | Oxford Circus | 2.1 min |
| Piccadilly | Green Park | 1.3 min |
| Piccadilly | Leicester Square | 1.6 min |
Connections
- Tube: change here between the Bakerloo line and Piccadilly line.
Station facilities
What is near Piccadilly Circus station
Entrances surround Piccadilly Circus itself, and the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain is about 50 m from the station. Theatres crowd the streets nearby: the Jermyn Street Theatre is around 120 m away, the Lyric and Prince of Wales about 140 m, the Piccadilly Theatre 150 m, the Apollo and Harold Pinter 170 m, the Gielgud 210 m and the Sondheim 230 m. Theatre Royal Haymarket and His Majesty’s Theatre are both within about 250 m, as are St James’s Church and the Cineworld Leicester Square and Odeon Luxe West End cinemas.
| Place | Walk from the station |
|---|---|
| Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain (statue) | 50 m |
| Jermyn Street Theatre | 120 m |
| Lyric Theatre | 140 m |
| Prince of Wales Theatre | 140 m |
| Piccadilly Theatre | 150 m |
| Apollo Theatre | 170 m |
| Harold Pinter Theatre | 170 m |
| Gielgud Theatre | 210 m |
Frequently asked questions
The Bakerloo line platforms are laid out back to back, which is unusual in itself, and a single tunnel containing a crossover at the north end lets passengers see both platforms at the same time, a view not found anywhere else on the network.
Yes. The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, commonly known as Eros, stands directly above the station and had to be moved to Victoria Embankment Gardens while the sub-surface booking hall was built between 1925 and 1928.