Mile End tube station
Central line, District line and Hammersmith & City line · Zone 2 · Tower Hamlets
About Mile End station
Mile End opened on 2 June 1902 with the Whitechapel and Bow Railway, a new link connecting the District Railway at Whitechapel with the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway east of Bow Road. The name “Burdett Road” was considered during planning but rejected in 1900 to avoid confusion with the existing Burdett Road railway station. The engineer Cuthbert Arthur Brereton designed the original surface building, identical to the one at Stepney Green, though no trace of it remains. Electric trains replaced steam on 20 August 1905, and Metropolitan line trains, forerunners of today’s Hammersmith & City line, began calling on 30 March 1936.
After wartime delay, the Central line was extended from Liverpool Street to Stratford on 4 December 1946, and Mile End was rebuilt for it; all of today’s structures are by Stanley Heaps, and the cream and blue tiling in the entrance is original. Two underground island platforms serve four tracks paired by direction, giving cross-platform interchange between the Central line and the District and Hammersmith & City lines. The westbound Central line track uses space once taken up by steam-train vents. Plans for the Docklands Light Railway announced in 1982 had Mile End, rather than Stratford, as its northern terminus.
First and last trains from Mile End
| Line and direction | Mon–Thu first – last | Friday first – last | Saturday first – last | Sunday first – last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central towards West Ruislip, Ealing Broadway or White City | 05:40 – 00:17 | 05:40 – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:31 to Ealing Broadway |
| Central towards Hainault, Epping or Loughton | 06:03 to Epping – 00:45 to Epping | 06:03 to Epping – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:57 |
| District towards Richmond, Ealing Broadway or Wimbledon | 05:30 – 00:17 to Ealing Broadway | 05:30 – 00:17 to Ealing Broadway | 05:30 – 00:17 to Ealing Broadway | 06:11 to Whitechapel – 23:41 |
| District towards Upminster, Barking or Dagenham East | 05:46 – 01:01 | 05:46 – 01:01 | 05:46 – 01:01 | 06:35 – 00:27 |
| Hammersmith & City towards Hammersmith (Circle and H&C lines) | 05:17 – 00:24 | 05:17 – 00:24 | 05:17 – 00:24 | 06:42 – 00:01 |
| Hammersmith & City towards Barking or Plaistow | 05:42 – 01:04 | 05:42 – 01:04 | 05:42 – 01:04 | 07:33 – 00:40 |
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 30 Central trains an hour per direction, 20 District trains an hour per direction and 8 Hammersmith & City trains an hour per direction from Mile End, counting both directions separately.
Next stations from Mile End
Running times between Mile End and the adjoining stations, from TfL’s timetable.
| Line | Next station | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Central | Bethnal Green | 2.5 min |
| Central | Stratford | 3.5 min |
| District | Bow Road | 1.4 min |
| District | Stepney Green | 2 min |
| Hammersmith & City | Bow Road | 1.1 min |
| Hammersmith & City | Stepney Green | 2 min |
Connections
- Tube: change here between the Central line, District line and Hammersmith & City line.
Station facilities
What is near Mile End station
The station is on Mile End Road in Tower Hamlets, and day and night bus routes serve it, with Mile End Station bus station about 150 m away. Mile End Community Garden is about 190 m from the station, Tredegar Square about 240 m and Mile End Park about 280 m. Siyah Garden and Kevtar Garden lie around 330–340 m away and The Art Pavilion about 360 m. Roughly 390 m from the station is a memorial marking the first flying bomb to fall on London.
| Place | Walk from the station |
|---|---|
| Tredegar Square | 240 m |
| Mile End Park | 280 m |
| Mile End Station | 150 m |
| Mile End Community Garden | 190 m |
| Siyah Garden | 330 m |
| Kevtar Garden | 340 m |
| The Art Pavilion | 360 m |
| First flying bomb on London (memorial) | 390 m |
Frequently asked questions
The station has two island platforms with four tracks paired by direction. Platform 1 is the westbound Central line and platform 4 the eastbound Central line, with the shared District and Hammersmith & City tracks on platforms 2 and 3 between them. Because the tracks are paired by direction, changing lines in the same direction means simply crossing the platform.
Yes. During planning the name “Burdett Road” was considered, after the nearby road, but it was rejected in 1900 to avoid confusion with the existing Burdett Road railway station. The station opened as Mile End on 2 June 1902.