Camden Town tube station
Northern line · Zone 2 · Camden
About Camden Town station
David Lloyd George, then President of the Board of Trade, opened Camden Town on 22 June 1907 for the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway; Camden Road had been proposed as its name. Here the line split for Hampstead, under Chalk Farm Road, and Highgate, under Kentish Town Road, on the routes now served by Chalk Farm and Kentish Town. Because the tunnels had to stay beneath those narrow streets to avoid paying landowners compensation, on each branch the northbound platform sits directly above the southbound, and the two roads meet at 35°, giving the station an unusual V shape. Leslie Green designed the ox-blood tiled surface building.
Linking the line to the City & South London Railway, with City trains arriving on 20 April 1924, was one of the most ambitious jobs in Underground history and was done without stopping services: a set of intertwined tunnels beneath Camden High Street lets trains run between either northern branch and either central branch without crossing paths. Escalators replaced the lifts on 7 October 1929. A Blitz bomb on 14 October 1940 killed one person, and on 19 October 2003 the last carriage of a train derailed on points in the junction tunnels, injuring seven passengers; full use of the junction returned in March 2004. With only two escalators, the station is too small for its crowds, and an expansion plan was put on hold indefinitely in 2018.
First and last trains from Camden Town
| Line and direction | Mon–Thu first – last | Friday first – last | Saturday first – last | Sunday first – last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern towards Morden, Battersea Power Station or Kennington | 05:45 – 00:25 | 05:45 – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:34 |
| Northern towards Edgware, Golders Green or High Barnet | 05:52 to High Barnet – 00:51 | 05:52 to High Barnet – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:55 |
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 24 Northern trains an hour per direction from Camden Town, counting both directions separately.
Next stations from Camden Town
Running times between Camden Town and the adjoining stations, from TfL’s timetable.
| Line | Next station | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Northern | Chalk Farm | 1.9 min |
| Northern | Euston | 3.6 min |
| Northern | Kentish Town | 1.9 min |
| Northern | Mornington Crescent | 1.8 min |
Connections
Camden Town is served by the Northern line only; there is no interchange with other rail lines here.
Station facilities
What is near Camden Town station
Weekend crowds come for the markets. Inverness Street Market and BOXPARK Camden are each about 90 m from the station, the Waterside Halls around 300 m and Camden Lock Market about 320 m. The Jewish Museum is roughly 260 m away, and Curzon Camden and Camden Gardens are both at about 330 m, with Inverness Gardens and St. Martin’s Gardens closer at 190 m and 250 m. Camden Road station on the London Overground is 450 m north-east, and out-of-station interchange is allowed.
| Place | Walk from the station |
|---|---|
| Inverness Street Market | 90 m |
| The Jewish Museum | 260 m |
| Camden Lock Market | 320 m |
| BOXPARK Camden | 90 m |
| TK Maxx | 170 m |
| Inverness Gardens | 190 m |
| St. Martin's Gardens | 250 m |
| Waterside Halls West | 300 m |
Frequently asked questions
It is the junction where the Edgware and High Barnet branches meet the Bank and Charing Cross branches. Built in a V shape under two streets meeting at 35°, it has northbound platforms stacked above southbound ones, and a surviving passageway from the original lifts adds to the maze. Northbound, Edgware trains use platform 1 and High Barnet or Mill Hill East trains platform 3.
Crowds visiting Camden Market and Camden High Street overwhelm the narrow platforms and the station’s two escalators. To prevent overcrowding, the station was exit-only on Sundays, a restriction that applied until 2019.