Coronavirus: Rail Updates

There will no longer be a service on the Waterloo & City Line until further notice. Please use the Northern line from Waterloo to Tottenham Court Road, where you can change to the Central line to Bank. Alternatively, routes 26 and 76 operate a daily service, 24 hours a day, between the two stations.

There will no longer be a service on any section of the night tube or the overnight service on the London Overground. There are no rail replacement buses operating in place of these trains, as to discourage leisure travelers. This is as an operational resilience measure, a reflection in the major drop in demand and allows for trains to be cleaned thoroughly overnight.

ALTERNATIVES TO NIGHT TUBE:
At the moment, there are still all-night services across London, Surrey and Hertfordshire for the foreseeable future on Thameslink services. This is a handy alternative to parts of the Jubilee and Northern line 6 nights a week (services don't operate Saturday night going into Sunday morning). However this arrangement is currently under review and may always be liable to short-notice change, so always check here for the latest official advice.

All night trains operate on Thameslink from London St. Pancras and London Blackfriars taking you to East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, West Hampstead, Cricklewood, Hendon, Mill Hill Broadway and onwards to the likes of St. Albans, Luton and Bedford. These services do accept Oyster and Contactless payment cards as far south as Gatwick Airport and as far north as Elstree & Borehamwood (on Oyster) or Luton Airport Parkway (on Contactless) and run every 30-60 minutes depending what station you are travelling to. 

FROM 30TH MARCH 2020, OVERNIGHT THAMESLINK TRAINS WILL ONLY RUN ONCE-AN-HOUR EVERY NIGHT CALLING AT ALL STATIONS BETWEEN BEDFORD AND LONDON ST PANCRAS, THEN SELECTED STOPS TO THREE BRIDGES VIA GATWICK AIRPORT.

ALL night bus routes, and 24-hour routes overnight, will from this day be operating a weeknight service (i.e. Sunday to Thursday night frequencies) on all nights of the week. Generally so to speak, this means that most routes generally so to speak will operate once every 30 minutes unless stated otherwise on the Transport for London website. However there are a number of bus routes that will no longer run overnight.

LONDON UNDERGROUND plan on running a service on all lines with the exception of the Waterloo & City lines. However, trains will be operating a special service with all lines seeing a reduction in frequency and a number of stations across the network being closed either partially or throughout the day. You can find a list of those stations here.

The aim is to try get a train service through the zone 1 area on all lines that are operating roughly every 4 minutes during the 'peak', however moving towards off-peak times, train services may run less frequently. 

Services on the Bakerloo line may be split into two services at Queen's Park with the core of the service running up to every 10 minutes between Queen's Park and Elephant & Castle. A less frequent service, operating every 10-20 minutes alongside the London Overground will operate, starting at Queen's Park going to Harrow & Wealdstone. Passengers may need to change trains if they are going through Queen's Park if no through train is shown.

Services on the Circle line are suspended. The Hammersmith & City lines will operate around every 15 minutes  Services may be reduced or suspended further if the situation continues to deteriorate.

Services on the Piccadilly line will operate across the whole line with the exception of between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge where you will need to change to a Metropolitan line service at Rayners Lane. Train services to and from Rayners Lane, when operational requirements call for it, may be split at Acton Town with a shuttle running Rayners Lane to Acton Town, connecting with the main service from Cockfosters to Heathrow Airport. If no through train is shown when travelling, take the first one to Acton Town and change there. Trains are operating every 10-20 minutes.

TfL Rail will operate to a SATURDAY timetable on all routes. This means that trains are running every 10 minutes between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield. On the western branches, there will be 6 trains an hour, of which 2 terminate at Hayes & Harlington (every 30 minutes), two continue to Heathrow Airport (every 30 minutes) and two continue to Reading (every 30 minutes). 

London Overground will operate an amended service, generally similar to that of a Saturday service. There will be:

• A train service every 10 minutes between Stratford and Willesden Junction, of which:
• one every 20 minutes a train continues to Richmond
• on the alternating every 20 minutes a train continues to Clapham Junction

• No trains between Surrey Quays and New Cross. You will need to walk about 4 minutes to New Cross Gate where more frequent services will operate from instead. There are also no trains between Sydenham and West Croydon. Trains will operate about every 4-11 minutes between Highbury & Islington and Surrey Quays, and then every 15 minutes to Clapham Junction and every 15 minutes to Crystal Palace. For stations between Sydenham and West Croydon, use the Southern services which will stop every 30 minutes at Sydenham, Penge West, Anerley and East Croydon. If you need West Croydon, change at Norwood Junction for another Southern service, or for local bus and tram services from East Croydon.

• A Saturday service on the Watford Junction to London Euston route and also on the Gospel Oak to Barking route. However this is liable to change due to staffing availability and trains may be altered to run as once every 30 minutes on both routes if not enough staff are available.

• A Saturday service will operate on the Lea Valley lines (services out of Liverpool Street), with trains running between Liverpool Street to Enfield Town every 30 minutes all day, every 15 minutes to Chingford and every 30 minutes to Cheshunt via Seven Sisters all day. There are no additional peak time trains and the Greater Anglia 'semi-fast' train service that calls at (from London) Hackney Downs, Seven Sisters, Edmonton Green, Cheshunt and onwards to Hertford East will not run.

• A half-hourly Saturday service will operate on the Romford to Upminster line. When there are no trains, use routes 248 or 370 between Romford, Emerson Park and Upminster stations.

Docklands Light Railway will operate an amended Saturday service with trains operating across the whole network roughly every 10 minutes on all branches. There will be no shuttle 'extra' trains between Canning Town and Beckton, only through trains from Beckton to Tower Gateway once every 10 minutes. 

London Trams will operate on a Sunday service to all destinations. If no through tram is shown, change at an appropriate tram stop within Croydon Town Centre.

National Rail services from the 23rd March will be severely disrupted. All train operators throughout the entire country are to implement emergency timetables to reflect the dramatic fall in ridership. This will include National Rail services that operate to, from or wholly within the London area. You can always check the full details on your train operator's website or here at National Rail Enquiries. 

Just as a brief below of train operators within the London area:

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From London Fenchurch Street, only six trains an hour will operate as:

- One every 30 minutes to Shoeburyness calling at West Ham, Barking and all stations from Upminster via Basildon and Southend Central.

- One every 30 minutes to Shoeburyness calling at Limehouse, West Ham, Barking, Upminster and all stations from Ockendon via Chafford Hundred, Grays and Tilbury Town. From the 30th March, this will reduce to one every 60 minutes every day.

- One every 30 minutes to Grays calling at Limehouse, West Ham, Barking, Dagenham Dock, Rainham, Purfleet and Grays. From the 30th March, this will reduce to one every 60 minutes every day, with some additional peak trains in the morning.

Gatwick Express
From the 30th March, all Gatwick Express services are suspended until further notice, as a result of Gatwick Airport generally cancelling nearly all flights. Between London Victoria, Gatwick Airport and Brighton you will need to use Southern services which are running every 30 minutes. Thameslink services operate more regularly between Brighton, Gatwick Airport and London Bridge.

Greater Anglia

From London Liverpool Street, services are being massively reduced. Services will operate as follows all day:

- One every 30 minutes from Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria, calling at Stratford, Romford and then all stations from Shenfield.

- One every 60 minutes from Liverpool Street to Cambridge North calling at Hackney Downs, Tottenham Hale and then all stations from Cheshunt via Harlow Town.

- One every 60 minutes from Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport (at xx:55 past the hour) calling at Tottenham Hale, Broxbourne, Harlow Town, Bishops Stortford, Stansted Mountfitchet and Stansted Airport. 

- One every 30 minutes from Stratford to Hertford East calling at all stations via Tottenham Hale and Broxbourne, including Northumberland Park (once an hour) and Meridian Water (also once an hour). Northumberland Park and Meridian Water will be served by alternate trains, and therefore you cannot catch a direct train service between the two stations. Use bus routes 192 or 341 if you need to go between the two stations.

There are also services to Clacton-on-Sea and stopping trains to Ipswich which start at Liverpool Street every hour, call at Stratford, Shenfield and then selected stops to their respective destinations. The usual trains to Braintree, Southminster and Harwich will be self-contained branch lines (change at Witham, Wickford and Manningtree respectively) and there are no direct trains to/from Colchester Town at all.

Southeastern
There is a reduced service running across the Southeastern network. From the 30th March, Southeastern High Speed services will be reduced to one train an hour each to Margate via Canterbury West, Faversham via Gravesend and Dover Priory via Folkestone Central. The loop services to and from St. Pancras will not run and you will need to change trains at Dover Priory or Ramsgate for stations via Sandwich.

Trains between London Victoria and Orpington via Penge East will be reduced to a half-hourly service throughout the day. Trains between London Victoria and Dartford via Bexleyheath will continue to run half-hourly albeit at different times. Do check before you travel.

Train services running on the 'Metro' routes around South East London have been reduced to 4 trains an hour running between Dartford and the 'usual London terminal' (all Sidcup line trains to Charing Cross, Bexleyheath line trains are 2 an hour to London Victoria and 2 an hour to London Cannon Street, Woolwich line trains are 2 an hour to London Cannon Street via Greenwich with an additional 2 Thameslink services an hour from Rainham to Kentish Town). There are no loop services changing between the Woolwich, Bexleyheath and Sidcup lines and all trains will terminate at Dartford or Gravesend. There are also no trains between Lewisham, Blackheath and Woolwich Arsenal. 

Stopping trains from Orpington to London Bridge are every 15 minutes (every 30 minutes from Sevenoaks), with additional fast trains from Kent going non-stop to London Bridge or London Victoria. The stopping services will take you to either London Charing Cross or London Cannon Street each being served every 30 minutes. The Bromley North to Grove Park service will operate every 30 minutes.

Trains to and from Hayes (Kent) are operating only every 30 minutes along the line, via Lewisham to London Charing Cross. You may need to change at London Bridge for other destinations.

Thameslink and Great Northern
Thameslink services from the 30th March will be moving to an amended Sunday timetable. There will be early morning services and late night services to support key workers. 

Trains from Bedford to Brighton via Central London will continue to operate every 30 minutes with 'semi-fast' trains running every 15 minutes between Bedford and East Croydon (mirroring the Brighton service), before making additional stops via Redhill every 30 minutes to Gatwick Airport. 

Trains from Cambridge to Brighton will operate once an hour, as such on Sundays, rerouted via Redhill and will terminate at Gatwick Airport instead. Trains from Peterborough to Horsham will be split into two, and revised to operate between Peterborough and London King's Cross and London Bridge and Horsham via Redhill. Both routes are planned to be once an hour and will work in the alternate half hour to the Cambridge service, combining to be every 30 minutes semi-fast service between Gatwick Airport, Redhill and London Bridge and also every 30 minutes between London King's Cross / London St. Pancras, Finsbury Park, Stevenage and Hitchin.

Trains between Luton and Rainham will operate every 30 minutes as usual via Greenwich, but will be revised to operate between Kentish Town and Rainham instead. Thameslink services to Sutton will operate every 15 minutes from Luton / St. Albans, calling at all stations* through Central London to Streatham, then every 30 minutes via Wimbledon and every 30 minutes via Mitcham Junction as usual.
*Cricklewood and Hendon will only see a train service every 30 minutes via Wimbledon

Thameslink services to Sevenoaks will run as normal from London Blackfriars every 30 minutes calling at all stations via Catford, Bromley South and Otford. There will be no Thameslink services to Orpington until further notice, you will need to change for a Southeastern service at Bromley South.

Trains between London King's Cross and Cambridge will run twice an hour, in addition to the hourly semi-fast from London St. Pancras. One of the two trains will be the non-stop Great Northern service to Cambridge, continuing from Cambridge calling at all stations to Kings Lynn. The other service will be the slow service calling at Finsbury Park, Potters Bar, Hatfield and all stations from Welwyn Garden City.

Great Northern services from Moorgate to Alexandra Palace via Finsbury Park are to operate every 15 minutes, with a train service from Alexandra Palace to Welwyn Garden City all stations every 30 minutes and a train service from Alexandra Palace to Stevenage via Enfield Chase calling at all stations every 30 minutes.

Overnight services are operating once an hour between Bedford and Three Bridges via Gatwick Airport calling at all stations between Bedford and London Blackfriars, then East Croydon, Purley, Horley, Gatwick Airport and Three Bridges.