Central line
The network’s longest line: 49 stations from West Ruislip and Ealing Broadway to Epping and Hainault, via Oxford Street and the City.
About the Central line
Shown in red on the tube map, the Central line runs across London on an east–west axis and serves 49 stations over 46 miles (74 km) – the longest line on the network. It is one of only two Underground lines to cross the Greater London boundary. Through the centre it follows Oxford Street via Bond Street, Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road, then continues through Holborn and St Paul’s to Bank and Liverpool Street.
At both ends it splits. In the west, trains run either to West Ruislip or to Ealing Broadway, the two routes meeting at North Acton. In the east, beyond Stratford, the main line continues through Woodford to Epping, while a loop leaves at Leytonstone to run underground through Newbury Park to Hainault and back round to Woodford.
Its busiest stations in 2024 were in the centre or at major rail hubs: Tottenham Court Road (62.06 million entries and exits), Liverpool Street (61.2 million) and Stratford (55.72 million). Measured by total passengers, the Central line is the third busiest on the Underground, with over 300 million journeys recorded in 2019. Since 2022 the Elizabeth line has offered interchanges at five of its stations, including Bond Street and Ealing Broadway.
Central line stations
49 stations, 10 of them with a change to another tube line (marked with a navy ring and the colours of the other lines).
West Ruislip to Epping
Main route, 37 stations
Alternative route via Wanstead and Fairlop
Leaves the main route after Leytonstone; rejoins at Hainault
History
The Central London Railway won permission in 1891 for a tube between Shepherd’s Bush and the City. Its tunnels followed the streets above rather than passing under buildings, and in places one track runs above the other for lack of space, with platforms at different levels at St Paul’s, Chancery Lane and Notting Hill Gate. The line from Shepherd’s Bush to Bank was formally opened on 30 June 1900, with public services from 30 July. Its uniform 2d fare earned it the nickname “Twopenny Tube”, and it was the first underground railway with electrically lit platforms.
A loop to Wood Lane served the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition, the extension to Liverpool Street opened in 1912, and the company joined the Underground Group on 1 January 1913. A Great Western Railway line to Ealing Broadway was built from 1912 but, delayed by the First World War, only opened to Central London trains in 1920. Under London Transport, formed on 1 July 1933, the route was called the “Central London Line” and became the “Central line” in 1937.
The 1935–40 New Works Programme planned a major expansion to Denham in the west and into Essex in the east. Most of the eastern tunnels were built by 1940, but work was suspended that June. The unused tunnels between Leytonstone and Newbury Park became an aircraft components factory, and the unopened Bethnal Green station served as an air-raid shelter, where 173 people died in a crowd crush in March 1943.
Construction resumed after the war. Trains reached Stratford in December 1946, Leytonstone, Woodford and Newbury Park in 1947, Greenford in 1947 and West Ruislip in 1948; the Denham powers were never used because of the Green Belt. Epping was served from 1949, and the shuttle beyond it to Ongar, electrified in 1957, closed in 1994 for lack of passengers. Some of the line is far older than the tube itself: the stretch from Leyton to just south of Loughton was opened on 22 August 1856 by the Eastern Counties Railway and is the oldest railway alignment still used by the Underground.
Trains and service
TfL’s route patterns pair the two western termini with the two eastern ones: Ealing Broadway to Epping or Hainault, and West Ruislip to Epping or to Hainault, the last either via Woodford or via Newbury Park. From Epping the first weekday train leaves at 05:10 and the last at 01:20, with 11 trains in the busiest hour. On Fridays and Saturdays the last departure is 01:33 (first 05:10 both days), and on Sundays trains run from 06:42 to 00:26, with 9 in the busiest hour. From West Ruislip the weekday service runs from 05:23 to 23:53, with 10 trains in the busiest hour.
The Central line is part of the Night Tube. Overnight trains serve Ealing Broadway, through central London to Leytonstone, then on to Loughton and round the loop to Hainault via Newbury Park; the West Ruislip branch beyond North Acton, Debden to Epping and the stations between Woodford and Hainault via Chigwell have no night service. Major interchanges include the Northern line and Waterloo & City line at Bank and the Jubilee line at Bond Street and Stratford.
The trains
Services use 1992 Stock, eight-car trains that entered service in 1993 as part of a renewal that also replaced the signalling. Automatic train operation was commissioned between 1999 and 2001, so trains run themselves for most of the time, though every train still carries a driver. As a deep-level line with narrow tunnels, the Central line uses trains smaller than those on main-line railways; its tunnels are slightly smaller even after reconstruction, so the outer conductor rail sits 40 mm higher than on other lines. A five-year Central Line Improvement Programme to refurbish the trains, adding new motors, doors, seats, CCTV and wheelchair areas, started in 2023 and has run behind schedule. The line also has the shallowest underground platforms on the system, at Redbridge, just 7.9 metres below street level.
Frequently asked questions
The Central line is 46 miles (74 km) long and serves 49 stations, which makes it the longest line on the Underground. Of its 147.1 km of total track, 52.8 km is in tunnel, and it is one of only two Underground lines (with the Metropolitan) that run beyond the Greater London boundary.
On Friday and Saturday nights, yes, on part of the line. Night Tube trains serve Ealing Broadway, central London, Loughton and Hainault via Newbury Park. The West Ruislip branch west of North Acton, Debden, Theydon Bois, Epping, Roding Valley, Chigwell and Grange Hill have no overnight trains. Details are on our Night Tube page.
When the Central London Railway opened in 1900 it charged a uniform fare of 2d for any journey, so it became known as the “Twopenny Tube”. The flat fare did not last: in July 1907 it rose to 3d for journeys of more than seven or eight stations.
No. No track is shared with any other line, although some sections run parallel to other routes. Connections to other railways exist only indirectly via Ruislip depot. Passengers change at stations instead, such as Liverpool Street for the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, or Mile End for the District and Hammersmith & City.
A single-track section continued from Epping to Ongar. It was electrified in 1957 and worked as a shuttle with short tube trains, but it carried only 100 passengers a day and closed in 1994. Part of it is now the heritage Epping Ongar Railway, which runs shuttles mostly on some weekends.