London By Train: What's good to know

When railways began to be the primary form of long-distance public transport, London was then the world’s largest city, so the upheaval and costs that would have incurred by the creation of a dominant city centre rail station, were too prohibitive.
As a result central London is ringed by 11 stations and at each of them (except London Bridge and St Pancras), all or most of the long-distance trains which use them, reverse direction to head back out of the city.

Therefore when travelling between a main London station and a location in the city centre, the fastest and often cheapest option is to use the Underground; the link connects to the official Underground map, which also shows the route of the Elizabeth line.
But taking the Underground often isn’t the easiest way to go, particularly if you’ll be arriving at a London station with luggage, strollers, young children or anything else that will be tricky to manoeuvre up and down escalators and staircases.
So this guide to arriving, departing and travelling within London by train will focus on the alternatives to ‘taking the tube’.

Though three universal things worth knowing are:

1. The access to and from the Underground trains and both the Elizabeth line and Thameslink trains. is always through a line of ticket gates, but one wider gate through which luggage etc can be wheeled through is always available.
   These wider gates are also typically staffed.
2. Tickets for end-to-end journeys which cross London typically include the cross-city transfer, you won't normally have to purchase separate tickets for the part of the journey by Underground, but such tickets can't be used on buses.
3. On the signage at the stations within central London, the direction of the trains leaving from each platform is designated by the use of compass points and not the final destinations of the trains.
   So trains heading to destinations north of the city centre are northbound trains and those heading west are wetsbound trains etc.
   This doesn't always make perfect sense, for example, 'northbound' Piccadilly line trains heading to destinations in north London actually spend much of their route travelling east<>west across the city center.
   So it can be a good idea to take your time at stations and look twice, so that you also see the list of stations that the trains heading in that direction, will be calling at.

Worth knowing when taking a rail journey to and from the UK’s capital city is that there are two different types of Underground lines:

1. the ‘Tube’ lines, and
2. the sub-surface lines.

These are the Underground lines which cross the city’s central area and use tunnels deep beneath the streets.
Because they’re buried far down under the city, the access to and from the parts of the stations that these trains use, typically involves taking long escalators, though some of the lesser used stops only have elevators.
Though all of the 'tube' stations at the mainline stations are accessed by escalators and few have lift (elevator) access too.
Though be warned that step-free access by lift (elevator) between street level and the platforms, from which the trains can be boarded, is comparatively rare at central Underground stations.

The tube lines are:

• the Bakerloo which serves Charing Cross* and Marylebone* and Paddington and Waterloo*
• the Central which serves Liverpool Street
• the Jubilee which serves London Bridge* and Waterloo*
• the Northern, which serves Charing Cross* and Euston* and King's Cross and London Bridge* and St Pancras and Waterloo*
• the Piccadilly, which serves King's Cross and St Pancras
• the Victoria which serves Euston* and King's Cross and St Pancras and Victoria
• the Waterloo & City which serves Waterloo*.

*= the tube lines are the only type of Underground line available at these central London railway stations.

Aside from the Piccadilly, the tube trains don’t have luggage racks, though what are becoming more common are spaces by the train doors with flip-up seats, which are ideal for accommodating large bags, folded pushchairs etc; when they are not full of standing passengers who have squeezed onto the trains.

The other Underground trains are similar to full size commuter trains and they use a railway which loops around the city in a tunnel just below street level; hence they known as the sub-surface trains.
The Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines use this tunnel.
On the northern edge of central London, the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines all serve Liverpool Street; King's Cross and St Pancras stations directly; while Euston Square station is a short walk from Euston.
Both the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines also serve Paddington

Towards the southern side of central London the Circle and District Lines serve Cannon St, Blackfriars and Victoria.

Because these lines are not far below the surface, staircases provide most of the access to the trains at the stations.
Though lifts (elevators) are becoming more common, they’re available when accessing the trains on these lines at Cannon Street, King’s Cross St Pancras, Paddington (not the eastbound District line) and Victoria railway stations.

A feature to be aware of when using these different sub-surface lines is that they share tracks, so trains on different lines follow each other in and out of the platforms at the stations.
Meaning that, for example, when taking the Underground from Kings Cross to Paddington you need to avoid boarding a Metropolitan Line train; and when heading to Paddington from Victoria you need to take a Circle Line train.
Though on other journeys such as Liverpool Street ↔ King's Cross, because the lines share the track, it doesn't matter which specific 'line' is taken, instead it's possible to simply hop on the first train to arrive.

Transferring to the tube lines, particularly the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines when arriving by train in London is often best avoided.
The tube stations at the mainline stations tend to be exceptionally busy and the trains are usually crowded with the people they’ve picked up outside the city centre.

Plus accessing the trains can take a while with multiple escalators and corridors to be negotiated, in the summer temperatures rise and neither the tube trains, or the stations, have air-conditioning.

However, the center of London is not devoid of conventional railway lines and now there are three routes which can be highly useful alternatives to taking the Underground, particularly as Oyster cards can also be used to travel by these mainline trains in the city centre.

The brand new Elizabeth line links Paddington and Liverpool Street stations and it also connects with the Thameslink trains (see below) at Farringdon.
So when travelling from both Paddington and Liverpool Street stations to and from both King’s Cross and St Pancras, this interchange at Farringdon provides a new step-free alternative route compared to travelling direct by Underground.

Also when taking trains which are travelling to and from Liverpool Street, it will be easier to make the connection in and out of the Elizabeth Line at Stratford, if your train will be calling there; particularly when heading towards London.

The access with many areas in central London has been transformed, particularly when taking trains to and from Paddington, thanks to that station’s somewhat distant location.
The Elizabeth Line station at Tottenham Court Road is within easy walking distance of The British Museum, Covent Garden and Chinatown.

Thameslink trains cross central London in both directions on a London Bridge - Blackfriars - City Thameslink - Farringdon - St Pancras International route.

Kings Cross is across the street from St Pancras and in that station the Thameslink southbound platform has super easy access by escalators and lifts (elevators); though not all trains from platform A at St Pancras go to London Bridge station, but most do, typically providing a minimum of 12 trains per hour.
Escalators and lifts are also available at London Bridge, where the Thameslink trains share the part of the station used by Southeastern’s train services.
London Bridge station is within a 10 min walk of Borough Market, Tower Bridge and The Shard.

The south entrance of City Thameslink station on Ludgate Hill is a 5 min walk from St Paul’s cathedral.

At Blackfriars there is an entrance/exit on the south bank which offers easy access to the Tate Modern and The Festival Hall; board by the front of the trains at St Pancras.

At Blackfriars interchange is also available with the Circle and District Lines, so a combination of Thameslink and those lines is the best route from Kings Cross/St Pancras (board at the rear of the trains) to a swathe of destinations including Embankment (for Trafalgar Square), Tower Hill and Westminster.

At Farringdon station a transfer between Thameslink services and the new Elizabeth line is also now available.

The West End of London and the London Bridge area are linked by frequent trains which travel to and from Charing Cross station, which is located on The Strand by Trafalgar Square.
All trains to Charing Cross now call at London Bridge station and the journey only takes 7 minutes.

In recent years the number of bus routes (lines) in central London has been extensively reduced, but for visitors to the city this is no bad thing.
Fewer routes mean both less confusing choices; and less congestion, particularly now that on many central sections of the journeys, the buses are separated from the cars.

Bus travel has been transformed for the better in central London in other ways; access on to the buses has become easier, they have luggage storage and also have on-board info, both audio and visual, which informs passengers of the stop they’re about to arrive at.
Plus asking the driver where you need to leave the bus is of course still an option.

Taking the bus is also cheaper than taking the Underground, the bus fare is £1.50, but a Zone 1 journey by Underground is £2.40 when using an Oyster Card.

Avoid having to make an indirect journey by Underground

Buses can also often provide a direct service between a main rail station and areas of central London, which otherwise require a connection between tube lines.
Examples include:
London Bridge ↔ Liverpool Street (routes 149 & 388)
Euston and Waterloo ↔ Holborn (routes 59, 68 & 168)
Kings Cross/St Pancras ↔ Tottenham Court Road (route 73) and Trafalgar Square (route 91)
Victoria ↔ Knightsbridge (route 52) and Piccadilly Circus (route 38)
Waterloo ↔ St Pauls (routes 26 & 76), Liverpool Street (route 26) and Islington (route 341).

Good to know:

The two key obstacles to taking a bus are:

1. You can’t pay for a ride with cash, so have to use a bank debit card (beware of international bank fees) or Oyster Cards which can’t be purchased from the driver, but can be issued by machines in the Underground station.

2. Finding the bus you need to take at a station.
   At Euston, London Bridge and Victoria there are bus stations in front of the main rail station exits; though they’re not used by most of the bus routes (lines) which serve these stations.
   So at these and the other stations, multiple bus stops are scattered around the immediate ara, but most stops have diagrams which show which bus leaves from each stop; and the stops also have letters to help find them.
   These diagrams, which show which bus route leaves from each stop, are also available on the relevant ShowMeTheJourney station guides.

Unlike Paris, London doesn't have an express train route which avoids the city, but when travelling between the two key rail routes which link the capital with the North of England, and destinations to the south of London, two alternative cross-city rail routes are available.
Taking either of them results in a slower and more expensive journey, but they're particularly good options if you want to avoid taking heavy luggage, kids and strollers etc on a deep-level tube line across central London by Underground; or if you'll simply be more comfortable taking lifts/elevators to and from the trains, rather than negotiating a journey involving long escalators.

Many of the trains operated by Avanti West Coast between London and a swathe of destinations including Birmingham, Blackpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh call at Watford Junction
Hourly trains operated by Southern provide a link between Watford Junction and Clapham Junction, which happens to have more departures per hour than any other station in Britain.
It has direct trains to and from numerous destinations including Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Guilford Hastings, Portsmouth, Richmond and Salisbury.

So as an alternative to having transfer by Underground between Euston and Victoria or Waterloo stations (where those trains calling at Clapham Junction commence and finish their journeys), an easier option is to travel between Milton Keynes and Clapham Junction by train instead.
Both of these stations have elevators/lifts connections to all platforms, so the transfer by this route is step-free.

The end-to-end journey time will likely be around an hour longer, but it can be a good option if you have heavy luggage etc, so would rather avoid taking the Underground across the city centre.

At Stevenage station, which is to the north of London, trains operated by LNER and Thameslink share the same sets of platforms/tracks, so when connecting between trains there, all that’s required is to wait on the same platform for the next train you will be taking to depart.

LNER trains provide fairly frequent services between Stevenage and the likes of Leeds, Newcastle and York, while four Thameslink trains per hour usually call at Stevenage.
All four of these trains link Stevenage with London Bridge and Gatwick Airport, and two of them also serve Brighton.

Other destinations with frequent trains from London Bridge station include Ashford, Greenwich, Canterbury and Dover, and all platforms at London Bridge have elevator/lift access.
So taking the train between Stevenage and London Bridge avoids both;

• taking the Northern line of the Underground, or
• making a more complicated transfer between King’s Cross and St Pancras stations; the LNER trains will arrive at and depart from King's Cross, but the Thameslink trains use St Pancras station, which is across the street.
  Also the end-to-end journeys are typically less than 30 mins longer when making a connection at Stevenage.

Note the advice for travel to a station can vary from that on how to travel from a station, due to variations in the optimum route in each direction. For example, the suggestions below whenever possible, don't include any transfers which involve crossing a street from a station.

Also the included transfers are those which facilitate long-distance journeys by train that involve cross-London connections, so the stations which primarily serve shorter-distance and commuter routes such as Cannon Street, Fenchurch Street and Marylebone have been excluded.

At weekends the Underground lines and both the Elizabeth line and Thameslink trains can be impacted by construction work, those affecting the Underground and Elizabeth line trains can be looked up here, while those impacting the Thameslink trains, can be found here.

How to make the easiest possible transfers on to a swathe of attractions, when arriving in London by train including:

• places with great views; the London Eye, The Sky Garden and The Shard
• the museums; Science, Natural History, London Transport, the V & A
• galleries and the arts; Tate Modern, Somerset House, Tate Britain, the National Gallery; the South Bank Centre
• Royal and historical London, Buckingham and Kensington Palaces, The Tower, Westminster and Greenwich.

National Rail, which has overall responsibility for how the trains are managed in Britain, has teamed up with a swathe of tourist attractions for a promotion which allows two entry tickets for the price of one when travelling to and from them by train.
How it typically works is:

1. You can look for which attractions and guided tours are members of the scheme on the National Rail website.
2. Having chosen an attraction you can then see how to book the special promotional tickets for it; when needed you can find promo codes on the dedicated page for each attraction on the National Rail Website.
3. On the online booking page of the attraction you should see an option which corresponds to 'National Rail - Two for One offer'.
4. Book your attraction tickets.
5. On arrival at the attraction you present your attraction tickets and rail tickets to gain entry.

The offers are available to visitors to the UK as well as residents, so they can be a great way to save money when on a holiday.

Though what's good to know is:

• You need to present the return part of a national rail ticket to gain entry, along with your attraction tickets, so Oyster Cards and other Travelcards aren't valid.
• The ticket machines at stations will retain one-way tickets, hence return tickets are a must.
• The two people entering the attraction on the 2-for-1 offer will both need return rail tickets.
• The type of rail ticket, how much you paid for it and the distance travelled all don't matter, any pair of return rail tickets will suffice.
• If you have one, you can use Railcards to book the rail tickets.
• If you have booked a pair of tickets to any central London station, you can gain entry to more than one attraction that day which is part of the 2-for-1 scheme.
• Rail tickets are available as an alternative to Oyster cards when travelling between any two National Rail stations in the Greater London area; a National Rail station is any station not solely served by the Underground or DLR, so it includes stations solely served by the Overground or Elizabeth Line trains.
  Therefore you can buy return rail tickets to a central London station, or to a station located by an attraction, from another station in the London area.

Two examples:

1. If you wanted to use the 2-for-1 admission offer to visit Kew Gardens from central London, you could go to Waterloo station and buy a pair of rail tickets, travelling to Kew Gardens with a simple connection at Richmond.
   Or you could use an Oyster Card to travel to Richmond and then at Richmond station buy return rail tickets for the one-stop return journey to Kew Gardens.
2. Or if you will be traveling to and from an area outside the very centre of London such as Greenwich and wanted to visit some central London attractions, you could buy a pair of return rail tickets to 'any London terminal' and then use the tickets and your pre-booked 2-for-1 attraction tickets, to gain entry multiple attractions which are participating in the scheme.
   You would then need to return to your starting point, by train and not by the DLR or Underground etc.

However before booking the 2-for-1 offers on the attraction websites, carefully check how much you will be saving by only paying one entrance fee, compared to the costs of booking two rail tickets.
If you look up the journey on the National Rail website you'll get a good idea of the train ticket costs.
It's likely you won't be able to claim a refund on the attraction tickets, if you then decide not to go ahead, because the rail tickets + the 2-for-1 offer won't provide a significant overall saving.
Though it's highly likely you will make a substantial overall saving.

But if you have already booked two return rail tickets and then find an attraction(s) that you want to visit, go ahead and book the 2-for-1 offer, as you'll then be certain of saving money!

Where can you go and what can you see

The full list of tourist attractions participating in the scheme can be found on the National Rail website.

Popular attractions in central London include:

• Westminster Abbey
• St Paul's cathedral
• the London Transport Museum
• The London Eye
• The Tower Of London (certain times of year only)

Attractions in the wider London area, with easy access from local rail stations, include:

• Hampton Court Palace
• The Cutty Sark
• Kew Gardens
• the World Rugby Museum

Attractions which are an easy day trip from London include:

• The Bluebell Railway; very easy connection at East Grinstead station.
• Steam - The Museum of the Great Western Railway
• There's a clutch of attractions in Brighton including:
  the charming Toy and Model Museum and The Royal Pavilion and Sea Life Brighton
• Chessington World Of Adventures which is walkable from Chessington South station, which has trains from London Waterloo.
• Thorpe Park which can be accessed by taking a train from London Waterloo to Staines and then connecting into a bus service.
• Legoland Windsor which can be accessed by taking buses from central Windsor that offer straightforward connections with trains from London Paddington and trains from London Waterloo.
  Though carefully check the full details for the amusement park offers as they exclude certain dates and periods of time, which tend to coincide with school holidays.

To Bath from Paddington

To Bicester from Marylebone; take trains heading to Oxford

To Brighton from St Pancras; Blackfriars and London Bridge by Thameslink trains; and from Victoria by Southern trains

To Cambridge from Kings Cross (fastest) and also from Blackfriars, London Bridge and Liverpool Street

To Canterbury from St Pancras (by hi-speed trains), other trains also depart from Charing Cross, London Bridge and Victoria

To Leeds Castle by taking trains to Bearsted from Victoria

To Oxford from Paddington and from Marylebone

To Salisbury; for Stonehenge from Waterloo

To Windsor from Paddington (faster but change of train at Slough required); from Waterloo (slower, but direct)

To Warwick from Marylebone

To Winchester from Waterloo

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