Barbican tube station
Circle line, Hammersmith & City line and Metropolitan line · Zone 1 · City of London
About Barbican station
The Metropolitan Railway opened this stop as Aldersgate Street on 23 December 1865, when it pushed its line on from Farringdon towards Moorgate. It stood on the site of 134 Aldersgate Street, a building long marked with a sign claiming to have been Shakespeare’s house. The name was cut to Aldersgate on 1 November 1910, lengthened to Aldersgate & Barbican in the 1920s, and became plain Barbican on 1 December 1968. Its early years were violent: on 16 December 1866 a girder fell onto a passenger train here, killing three passengers, and on 26 April 1897 a bomb exploded under a seat in a first-class carriage, injuring ten people, two of whom later died.
Severe bomb damage in the Blitz, especially in December 1940, led to the loss of the upper floors, and in 1955 the rest of the street building came down and the glass roof gave way to awnings, prompting John Betjeman’s poem Monody on the Death of Aldersgate Station. The platforms now lie largely open to the sky in a cutting, with the old roof supports still visible. Platforms 3 and 4 once carried main-line trains to Moorgate, later Thameslink, until they closed in March 2009, and are now out of use. A plaque on one wall remembers Pebbles, the station cat.
First and last trains from Barbican
| Line and direction | Mon–Thu first – last | Friday first – last | Saturday first – last | Sunday first – last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circle towards Hammersmith (Circle and H&C lines) or Edgware Road (Circle line) | 05:41 – 00:46 to Edgware Road (Circle line) | 05:41 – 00:46 to Edgware Road (Circle line) | 05:41 – 00:46 to Edgware Road (Circle line) | 07:18 – 00:28 |
| Circle towards Edgware Road (Circle line), Aldgate or Liverpool Street | 05:07 to Aldgate – 00:46 to Liverpool Street | 05:07 to Aldgate – 00:46 to Liverpool Street | 05:07 to Aldgate – 00:46 to Liverpool Street | 06:51 – 00:25 to Liverpool Street |
| Hammersmith & City towards Hammersmith (Circle and H&C lines) | 05:29 – 00:36 | 05:29 – 00:36 | 05:29 – 00:36 | 06:56 – 00:14 |
| Hammersmith & City towards Barking or Plaistow | 05:30 – 00:49 | 05:30 – 00:49 | 05:30 – 00:49 | 07:19 – 00:28 |
| Metropolitan towards Uxbridge, Watford or Amersham | 06:21 – 00:18 | 06:21 – 00:18 | 06:23 to Amersham – 00:18 | 07:43 – 00:04 |
| Metropolitan towards Aldgate | 06:01 – 23:56 | 06:01 – 23:56 | 06:01 – 23:56 | 07:26 – 23:46 |
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 7 Circle trains an hour per direction, 7 Hammersmith & City trains an hour per direction and 16 Metropolitan trains an hour per direction from Barbican, counting both directions separately.
Next stations from Barbican
Running times between Barbican and the adjoining stations, from TfL’s timetable.
| Line | Next station | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Circle | Farringdon | 1.3 min |
| Circle | Moorgate | 1.8 min |
| Hammersmith & City | Farringdon | 1.5 min |
| Hammersmith & City | Moorgate | 1.8 min |
| Metropolitan | Farringdon | 1.4 min |
| Metropolitan | Moorgate | 1.8 min |
Connections
- Tube: change here between the Circle line, Hammersmith & City line and Metropolitan line.
Station facilities
What is near Barbican station
The entrance on Aldersgate Street leads by an old footbridge to the platforms, and the station serves the Barbican Estate, the Barbican Arts Centre (about 290 m), the City of London School for Girls and Smithfield. Charterhouse Square is only about 110 m away, with The Charterhouse and the church of St Bartholomew-the-Great both at about 180 m. St Bartholomew’s Hospital is roughly 340 m off, the Museum of the Order of St John 370 m and the Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice 380 m. A lift from the westbound platform runs directly to the Farringdon Elizabeth line station, whose eastern ticket hall is one street west.
| Place | Walk from the station |
|---|---|
| The Charterhouse | 180 m |
| St Bartholomew-The Great | 180 m |
| Barbican Arts Centre | 290 m |
| St Bartholomew's Hospital | 340 m |
| Museum of the Order of St John | 370 m |
| Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice | 380 m |
| St Olave Silver Street | 390 m |
| Velorose | 50 m |
Frequently asked questions
It opened in 1865 as Aldersgate Street, after the neighbouring ward of Aldersgate. It became Aldersgate in 1910 and Aldersgate & Barbican in the 1920s, and was given its present name, Barbican, on 1 December 1968.
Platforms 3 and 4 served main-line trains running over the City Widened Lines to Moorgate, latterly Thameslink. They closed in March 2009 so that Farringdon’s main-line platforms could be extended across the Moorgate branch, and since then Barbican has served Underground lines only.