The Underground is not a 24-hour railway. On a normal weekday the first trains leave around 05:20 to 06:00 and the last trains out of the centre go between about 00:20 and 00:50. Sunday is the awkward day: some lines do not start until after 07:00 and the last trains finish before midnight. Only on Friday and Saturday nights do five lines run right through, and even then not along their whole length.
There is no single London-wide first or last train time, because every line and every branch has its own. What follows is a set of real examples taken from Transport for London's published timetables in September 2026, plus the method for looking up the one time that actually matters to you.
The shape of the Tube day
- First trains, Monday to Saturday
- Typically 05:20 to 06:00 from central stations
- First trains, Sunday
- Later, and very uneven: some lines from about 06:40, others not until 07:30
- Last trains from the centre, Monday to Thursday
- Typically 00:20 to 00:50
- Last trains from the centre, Sunday
- Often before midnight, sometimes as early as 23:30
- Night Tube
- Friday and Saturday nights on the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines, plus the Windrush line
- Waterloo & City line
- Monday to Friday only; nothing at all at weekends
Real first and last trains, line by line
These are departure times from a named central station towards a named destination, taken from TfL's own timetable data in September 2026. Times will differ at your station and in the opposite direction, sometimes by twenty minutes or more.
| Journey | Monday to Thursday | Friday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria line: Victoria to Walthamstow Central | 05:34 to 00:35 | 05:34, then all night to 03:05 | Until 23:59 |
| Victoria line: Victoria to Brixton | 05:38 to 00:34 | 05:38, then all night to 03:13 | Until 23:52 |
| Central line: Oxford Circus to Epping | 05:48 to 00:30 | 05:48, then all night to 03:19 | Until 23:41 |
| Central line: Oxford Circus to Ealing Broadway | 05:56 to 00:33 | 05:56, then all night to 03:30 | Until 23:48 |
| Jubilee line: Westminster to Stratford | 05:29 to 00:47 | 05:29, then all night to 03:27 | Until 00:02 |
| Northern line: Leicester Square to Morden | 05:54 to 00:33 | 05:54, then all night to 03:23 | Until 23:43 |
| Bakerloo line: Oxford Circus to Elephant & Castle | 05:54 to 00:31 | Same as Monday to Thursday | 07:30 to 23:50 |
| District line: Embankment to Wimbledon | 05:48 to 00:36 | Same as Monday to Thursday | 07:04 to 00:01 |
| Circle line: Baker Street to Edgware Road | 04:57 to 00:46 | Same as Monday to Thursday | 06:41 to 00:15 |
| Hammersmith & City: Baker Street to Barking | 05:20 to 00:40 | Same as Monday to Thursday | 07:01 to 00:19 |
| Waterloo & City: Waterloo to Bank | 06:00 to 00:20 | Same as Monday to Thursday | No service |
Two patterns stand out. On the five Night Tube lines, Friday and Saturday nights have no last train at all: the service simply continues until the ordinary timetable resumes. And on every line, Sunday is a shorter day at both ends.
Sunday evening catches people out more than any other time. On several lines the last train from the centre leaves before midnight, and the Bakerloo line's Sunday service to Elephant & Castle ends at 23:50. If you have a Sunday night flight, a Sunday evening dinner south of the river, or a Monday morning check-out, look up the time rather than assuming a midnight finish.
Sunday mornings are the real gap
Sunday is not simply a later start; it is a very uneven one. The Circle line at Baker Street begins at 06:41 and the District line at Embankment at 07:04, while the Bakerloo line at Oxford Circus does not start until 07:30 and the Metropolitan line at Baker Street until around 07:00. That is nearly an hour of difference between lines that meet at the same interchange.
The practical consequences are concrete. A Sunday morning flight from any London airport may need a bus or a taxi to reach the airport train. A Sunday morning walking tour that meets at 08:00 will find its participants arriving over a spread of twenty minutes. And engineering work, which is concentrated on Sunday mornings, can push the first train later still on a particular section.
If your trip includes a Sunday morning departure, check the night before, not on the morning itself. Our guide to late-night and early-morning airport transport covers what runs when the Tube does not.
The Waterloo & City line does not run at weekends
The shortest line on the network is also the one with the most restricted hours. The Waterloo & City line has two stations, Waterloo and Bank, and it exists to move City workers. It runs Monday to Friday only: 06:00 to 00:20 from Waterloo, and 06:06 to 00:26 from Bank. There is no Saturday or Sunday service at all.
Visitors discover this at the point of trying to use it, usually on a Saturday, because it looks on the map like the obvious way from the South Bank to the City. On those days, walk across one of the bridges instead, or take the Jubilee line to London Bridge. Our guide to walking in London covers the distances, which are shorter than the map suggests.
Getting to Heathrow: the times that matter most
For most visitors the only first and last trains that really matter are the ones to the airport. On the Piccadilly line the pattern is this, for trains between King's Cross St Pancras and Heathrow Terminal 5, from TfL's timetables in September 2026:
- Friday: first departure towards Heathrow 05:39, then a continuous service through the night until 03:24 on Saturday morning.
- Saturday: trains run through the night into Sunday morning, with the last at 03:24.
- Sunday: the last train towards Terminal 5 leaves at 23:30, and there is nothing after it.
- Coming the other way, the last Sunday train from Terminal 5 towards central London leaves at 23:51.
From Piccadilly Circus the equivalent Sunday departure towards Terminal 5 is 23:38. Allow for the 50-minute journey and the walk at the airport, and a Sunday flight departing much before 07:00 or arriving much after 00:30 needs another plan, which our comparison of the two fast Heathrow trains and our guide to Heathrow arrivals both touch on.
How to find the time for your own station
Do not rely on a general figure. There are three reliable ways to get the exact time:
- Journey Planner or TfL Go. Enter your journey with the date and a late time such as 00:30, and it will show the last workable departure, including any change.
- The station page on the TfL website, which lists first and last trains in each direction.
- The poster at the station. Every platform has one, and it is the version that reflects any temporary change.
The third method matters more than it sounds, because the other two can be out of date when engineering work is in progress. Our list of apps worth having in London covers TfL Go and the alternatives.
The last train from a terminus is not the last train through your station. Late in the evening some trains run only part of the way along a line, so the final departure from Oxford Circus towards Morden may be twenty minutes before the final departure shown for the Northern line as a whole. Always check the last train that actually serves your station, in your direction.
What runs when the Tube does not
Between the last train and the first, London is not closed. The night bus network has 64 routes and runs every night of the week, charging £1.75. On Friday and Saturday nights the Night Tube covers the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines and the Windrush line of the Overground.
The Elizabeth line and the DLR keep broadly similar hours to the Tube and do not run through the night, apart from the Windrush line at weekends. Black cabs and minicabs run all night at a higher tariff; our guide to black cabs, minicabs and Uber explains the fares and how to book safely.
One more thing to know about the small hours: the fare day runs from 04:30 to 04:29, so a journey at 01:30 belongs to the previous day's daily cap. If you already reached the cap, the ride home costs nothing, as our explainer on how caps work sets out. Night Tube and overnight Overground fares are always charged at the off-peak rate.
Weekend closures and other reasons the timetable lies
Engineering work is concentrated at weekends and on Sunday mornings, and it regularly closes whole sections of line. TfL publishes planned works ahead of time, and the effect on first and last trains is not always obvious: a line that is closed between two stations may still run first trains at the usual time on the parts that are open.
Industrial action is the other variable. During a strike, last trains are often brought forward well into the evening even on days when the service is otherwise running; our guide to getting around during a Tube strike covers what happens. Check the status page on the morning of any late night out, not the week before.
If you are planning an evening that ends late, our guides to London after dark and where to go out are worth reading alongside this page, and avoiding the rush hour deals with the other end of the day.
Frequently asked questions
What time does the London Underground start in the morning?
Most lines run their first trains from central stations between about 05:20 and 06:00 from Monday to Saturday. On Sunday the start is later and very uneven: the Circle line at Baker Street begins around 06:41, while the Bakerloo line at Oxford Circus does not start until 07:30.
What time does the last Tube leave?
From central London, typically between 00:20 and 00:50 from Monday to Thursday. On Sunday the last trains are much earlier, often before midnight and in some cases as early as 23:30. On Friday and Saturday nights, five lines and the Windrush line run continuously.
Does the Tube run 24 hours in London?
Only on Friday and Saturday nights, and only on the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines plus the Windrush line of the Overground, and not along their whole length. On every other night there is a gap of roughly four hours, filled by the night bus network.
Is the Waterloo & City line open at weekends?
No. It runs Monday to Friday only, from 06:00 to 00:20 out of Waterloo and from 06:06 to 00:26 out of Bank, and does not operate on Saturdays or Sundays. At weekends, walk across a bridge or use the Jubilee line to London Bridge instead.
Can I get to Heathrow by Tube late on a Sunday night?
Only until about 23:30. The last Piccadilly line train from King's Cross St Pancras towards Terminal 5 on a Sunday leaves at 23:30, and from Piccadilly Circus at 23:38. After that you need the N9 night bus, a coach or a taxi, and the journey takes considerably longer.
Sources
- Transport for London - Tube timetables (first and last train data for each line, September 2026) (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London Unified API - line timetable data (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Night Tube lines and nights (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Fare capping and the 04:30 travel day (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Live service status and planned works (checked September 2026)