Oxford Circus tube station
Bakerloo line, Central line and Victoria line · Zone 1 · City of Westminster
About Oxford Circus station
Overcrowding has shaped this station almost from the start. The Central London Railway opened here on 30 July 1900 and the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway on 10 March 1906, each with its own building on a tight plot either side of Argyll Street: the CLR’s is the best surviving example of Harry Bell Measures’ stations, the Bakerloo’s a classic Leslie Green structure, and both have been Grade II listed since 20 July 2011. A shared ticket hall with escalators came into use in 1914, a second rebuilding from 1923 added escalators straight down to the Central line, and in 1942 high-speed lifts were installed, largely as an exit from the Central line platforms.
The Victoria line brought the biggest upheaval. From August 1963 to Easter 1968, traffic at the Regent Street and Oxford Street junction ran over a temporary steel deck, the ‘umbrella’, while a new ticket hall was dug beneath it. The Victoria line platforms opened on 7 March 1969, built parallel to the Bakerloo line ones for cross-platform interchange. On 23 November 1984 a fire burned out the northbound Victoria line platform, and the smoking ban was afterwards extended to all subsurface stations. In 2024 Oxford Circus was among the ten busiest stations on the Underground, and access is often restricted at peak times.
First and last trains from Oxford Circus
| Line and direction | Mon–Thu first – last | Friday first – last | Saturday first – last | Sunday first – last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakerloo towards Elephant & Castle or Waterloo | 05:54 – 00:31 | 05:54 – 00:31 | 05:54 – 00:31 | 07:30 – 23:50 |
| Bakerloo towards Queen's Park, Harrow & Wealdstone or Stonebridge Park | 05:47 to Harrow & Wealdstone – 00:33 | 05:47 to Harrow & Wealdstone – 00:33 | 05:47 to Harrow & Wealdstone – 00:33 | 07:26 to Harrow & Wealdstone – 23:47 |
| Central towards West Ruislip, Ealing Broadway or White City | 05:56 – 00:33 | 05:56 – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:48 to Ealing Broadway |
| Central towards Hainault, Epping or Loughton | 05:48 to Epping – 00:30 to Epping | 05:48 to Epping – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:41 |
| Victoria towards Brixton | 05:34 – 00:30 | 05:34 – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:49 |
| Victoria towards Walthamstow Central or Seven Sisters | 05:38 – 00:39 | 05:38 – all night | 24 hours | all night – 00:03 |
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 19 Bakerloo trains an hour per direction, 30 Central trains an hour per direction and 36 Victoria trains an hour per direction from Oxford Circus, counting both directions separately.
Next stations from Oxford Circus
Running times between Oxford Circus and the adjoining stations, from TfL’s timetable.
| Line | Next station | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Bakerloo | Piccadilly Circus | 2.1 min |
| Bakerloo | Regent's Park | 2.3 min |
| Central | Bond Street | 1.4 min |
| Central | Tottenham Court Road | 1.3 min |
| Victoria | Green Park | 2 min |
| Victoria | Warren Street | 1.5 min |
Connections
- Tube: change here between the Bakerloo line, Central line and Victoria line.
Station facilities
What is near Oxford Circus station
Entrances stand on all four corners of the junction of Regent Street and Oxford Street in the West End. Liberty London is about 210 m away, the London Palladium 140 m and the Regent Street Cinema 190 m. The London College of Fashion is around 90 m from the station and The Photographers’ Gallery about 200 m, while Hanover Square and Cavendish Square offer green space at 190 m and 260 m. A little further, All Souls Church is about 330 m off, The Cartoon Museum around 350 m and the Handel & Hendrix museum roughly 370 m.
| Place | Walk from the station |
|---|---|
| London Palladium | 140 m |
| Regent Street Cinema | 190 m |
| Unit London | 190 m |
| Hanover Square | 190 m |
| The Photographers' Gallery | 200 m |
| Liberty London | 210 m |
| Cavendish Square | 260 m |
| All Souls Church | 330 m |
Frequently asked questions
To dig a new ticket hall for the Victoria line under the road junction, traffic was carried for five and a half years, from August 1963 to Easter 1968, on a temporary bridge-like deck known as the ‘umbrella’. It was made of 245 prefabricated steel pieces resting on 25 concrete foundations.
Yes. When the Victoria line platforms opened on 7 March 1969, they were built parallel to the existing Bakerloo line platforms precisely to provide cross-platform interchange between the two lines.