Kennington tube station
Northern line · Zones 1 and 2 · Southwark
About Kennington station
The station preserves the look of the world’s first underground electric railway. The City and South London Railway opened Kennington on 18 December 1890, having considered calling it New Street after the road beside it, now Braganza Street. T. P. Figgis designed the single-storey building with its dome, which once housed the hydraulic lift machinery. It is the only station on the railway’s original section still close to its original design, and the only one that is listed.
Below ground, almost everything changed in the 1920s. The station closed on 1 June 1923 and served as a works depot while the cramped tunnels were enlarged and the Hampstead Tube was extended from Embankment. Two new platforms were dug alongside the old ones, with linking passages for cross-platform interchange, and a loop tunnel let trains from Waterloo turn back. Charles Holden supplied the tiling, replaced with matching tiles in a refurbishment completed in 2005. That loop became the starting point for the 3 km extension to Battersea Power Station, opened on 20 September 2021, for which extra cross-passages were added between the platform pairs.
First and last trains from Kennington
| Line and direction | Mon–Thu first – last | Friday first – last | Saturday first – last | Sunday first – last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern towards Morden or Battersea Power Station | 05:42 to Battersea Power Station – 00:48 to Battersea Power Station | 05:42 to Battersea Power Station – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:57 to Battersea Power Station |
| Northern towards Edgware, High Barnet or Mill Hill East | 05:36 to High Barnet – 00:33 | 05:36 to High Barnet – all night | 24 hours | all night – 23:37 |
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 26 Northern trains an hour per direction from Kennington, counting both directions separately.
Connections
Kennington is served by the Northern line only; there is no interchange with other rail lines here.
Station facilities
What is near Kennington station
The station stands on Kennington Park Road, at the corner of Braganza Street, where the branches of the Northern line divide. Within a short walk are the City & Guilds of London Art School (about 150 m), Cleaver Square (about 200 m), the White Bear Theatre pub (about 220 m), Lambeth County Court (about 270 m), Walworth Garden (about 290 m) and the Durning Library (about 300 m). The Camera Club and Gallery 1885 are both about 320 m away, and a former gentlemen’s underground lavatory lies at roughly 350 m.
| Place | Walk from the station |
|---|---|
| White Bear Theatre Pub | 220 m |
| Durning Library | 300 m |
| Gentlemens Underground Lavatory (former) | 350 m |
| City & Guilds Of London Art School | 150 m |
| Cleaver Square | 200 m |
| Walworth Garden | 290 m |
| The Camera Club | 320 m |
| Gallery 1885 | 320 m |
Frequently asked questions
It sits where the Charing Cross and Bank branches meet the branches to Morden and Battersea Power Station. Since the 1920s rebuild, the four platforms have been arranged in pairs at the same level, with linking passages so passengers can change across the platform; more cross-passages were added for the 2021 Battersea extension.
The domed single-storey building, designed by T. P. Figgis for the 1890 opening, originally housed the hydraulic equipment that powered the lifts. The surface building was left largely unaltered in the 1920s modernisation, making Kennington the only listed station on the original City and South London Railway section.