Gants Hill tube station
Central line · Zone 4 · Redbridge
About Gants Hill station
Gants Hill has no station building at all: its ticket hall lies beneath the Gants Hill roundabout, reached by pedestrian subways, with only low structures on the roundabout to let in daylight and air. Charles Holden designed it in the 1930s, and its centrepiece, a barrel-vaulted concourse between the two platform tunnels, owes something to Moscow. The London Passenger Transport Board had advised on building the Moscow Metro, and a 1935 report by the Underground’s engineers on that system led to the decision to build a London station in a similar style. It is the only Holden concourse with no surface buildings, and miniature roundels decorate the platform tiles.
The station belongs to the new tunnel built under the 1935–40 New Works Programme, running mostly beneath Eastern Avenue between Leytonstone and Newbury Park. Ilford North and Cranbrook were considered as names. Most of the tunnels were finished by 1940 before work stopped that June; during the war the station was used as an air raid shelter, and the unused tunnels towards Redbridge housed a Plessey munitions factory. It finally opened on 14 December 1947. It is the easternmost underground station on the network.
First and last trains from Gants Hill
| Line and direction | Mon–Thu first – last | Friday first – last | Saturday first – last | Sunday first – last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central towards Ealing Broadway, White City or West Ruislip | 05:27 – 23:58 | 05:27 to Ealing Broadway – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:16 |
| Central towards Hainault or Newbury Park | 06:25 – 01:04 | 06:25 – all night | 24 hours | all night – 00:13 |
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 15 Central trains an hour per direction from Gants Hill, counting both directions separately.
Next stations from Gants Hill
Running times between Gants Hill and the adjoining stations, from TfL’s timetable.
| Line | Next station | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Central | Newbury Park | 3.8 min |
| Central | Redbridge | 1.8 min |
Connections
Gants Hill is served by the Central line only; there is no interchange with other rail lines here.
Station facilities
What is near Gants Hill station
Three escalators lead down from a ticket hall directly under the roundabout where Woodford Avenue, Eastern Avenue and Cranbrook Road meet, at the heart of a mainly residential district of Ilford. The station is near Valentines Park and Valentines High School, and Gants Hill Library is about 280 m away. Many bus routes stop here, including the Superloop SL2 and SL12. Redbridge is the next stop towards central London.
| Place | Walk from the station |
|---|---|
| Gants Hill Library | 280 m |