Finding the right station and buying the cheapest ticket when travelling from London can be a nightmare. Here is a quick guide to the twelve major railway stations in Central London:
Cannon Street
South Eastern Trains run services to Kent including Ramsgate, Ashford and Sevenoaks. Many services only operate at peak hours and alternative routes are advised on evenings and weekends.
Nearest Underground : Cannon Street
Underground Lines: District Line and Circle Line
Charing Cross
South Eastern Trains run services to Kent and East Sussex including Ramsgate, Margate, Dover , Canterbury and Hastings. Services are generally more regular than from Cannon Street.
Nearest Underground : Charing Cross, Embankment
Underground Lines: Bakerloo Line and Northern Line (Charing Cross and Embankment)
District Line and Circle Line (Embankment only)
Euston
Virgin Trains run the West Coast Main Line to North West England and Scotland . Services run to Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Rugby, Crewe, Chester , Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Lancaster, Carlisle and Glasgow.
Silverlink run local services to Watford, Milton Keynes and Northampton
First Scotrail run overnight sleeper services to Scotland.
Nearest Underground : Euston
Underground Lines Northern Line, Victoria Line
Fenchurch Street
C2C operate local services to Essex including Grays, Tilbury, Southend and Shoeburyness
Nearest Underground : Tower Hill
Underground Lines District Line and Circle Line
Kings Cross
GNER serves the East Coast Main Line including Peterborough, Doncaster, Leeds, Bradford, York, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness .
First Capital Connect run local services to Peterborough, Cambridge and King's Lynn.
Hull Trains provide a direct inter-city service to Hull
Nearest Underground : Kings Cross/St Pancras
Underground Lines Circle Line, Hammersmith and City Line, Metropolitan Line, Northern Line , Piccadilly Line, Victoria Line
Liverpool Street
One serves destinations in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire including Stansted Airport, Cambridge, Great Yarmouth, Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Southend and Harwich. The Stansted Express provides a fast direct link to Stansted Airport.
Nearest Underground : Liverpool Street
Underground Lines Central Line, Circle Line, Hammersmith and City Line, Metropolitan Line,
London Bridge
Southern Railway and South Eastern Railway serve parts of Kent, Surrey and Sussex; including Croydon, Gillingham, Margate and Hastings.
The First Capital Connect service from Bedford in the north to Brighton on the South Coast calls at London Bridge.
Nearest Underground : London Bridge
Underground Lines Jubilee Line, Northern Line
Marylebone
Chiltern Railways run services to Aylesbury, Leamington Spa, Stratford upon Avon, Warwick and Birmingham Snow Hill.. It is quicker to travel directly to Birmingham from Euston to Birmingham New Street.
Nearest Underground : Marylebone
Underground Lines Bakerloo Line
Paddington
First Great Western operates long distance trains to the West Country and South Wales and commuter trains down the Thames Valley; serving Slough, Reading, Oxford, Swindon, Bath, Bristol, Cardiff Swansea, Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance.
The Heathrow Express provides a non-stop link with Heathrow Airport. Trains run every 15 minutes, and the average journey time is 15 minutes.
Nearest Underground : Paddington
Underground Lines Circle Line, Hammersmith and City Line, District Line, Bakerloo Line
St Pancras
Midland Mainline, serves the East Midlands and Yorkshire including Luton, Bedford, Kettering, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield.
From November 2007, it will be the International terminus for Eurostar providing high speed links with Paris and Brussels.
Nearest Underground : Kings Cross/St Pancras
Underground Lines Circle Line, Hammersmith and City Line, Metropolitan Line, Northern Line , Piccadilly Line, Victoria Line
Victoria
Southern Railway and South Eastern Railway serve Surrey and Sussex including Croydon, Brighton, Eastbourne and Worthing.
The Gatwick Express runs every 15 minutes non stop to Gatwick Airport with the journey taking half an hour.
Nearest Underground : Victoria
Underground Lines Circle Line, District Line, Victoria Line
Waterloo
Waterloo station is divided in to three distinct parts
South West Trains run from the main station to Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire serving Windsor, Hampton Court, Guildford, Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth.
Trains from Charing Cross call at Waterloo East and London Bridge en route to Kent.
Waterloo International is the terminus for Eurostar, until November 2007, providing a direct link via the Channel Tunnel with Brussels and Paris.
Nearest Underground Waterloo
Underground Lines, Northern Line , Bakerloo Line, Jubilee Line
A Few Quick Tips
- If loaded with luggage, taxis are normally the easiest (but most expensive) way of getting between two stations.
- The Piccadilly line provides a direct tube link from Central London to Heathrow Airport.
- All the stations listed above, except London Bridge, Waterloo and Marylebone, are linked by the Circle Line.
- Kings Cross and St Pancras stations are on the same site and Euston is within easy walking distance of both.
John Oyston - I am a freelance travel writer, accountant and further education teacher. I have spent a lifetime travelling across the UK, Western Europe ...
Join the Conversation