Trains run to Twickenham from London Waterloo, operated by South Western Railway, and then you walk. The catch is that the trains are not all the same: on the same half hour you can catch one that takes 22 minutes and one that takes 45, and nothing on the departure board tells you which is which unless you read the journey time.
Twickenham is England's rugby stadium, formally the Allianz Stadium, on Whitton Road in south-west London. Our guide to rugby at Twickenham covers the fixture calendar, how tickets are distributed and what a match day feels like. This page is only about the journey, in both directions, because the return leg is the one that goes wrong.
The journey at a glance
- Station
- Twickenham, in Zone 5, served by South Western Railway
- From Waterloo
- 10 miles; 22 minutes on a fast train, up to 45 on a slow one
- Walk to the ground
- 10 minutes according to the stadium and the train operator; longer in a crowd
- First and last trains, Waterloo to Twickenham
- Weekdays 05:26 to 00:36; weekends 05:26 to 00:18
- Fares
- Contactless and Oyster valid; a day covering Zones 1 to 5 is capped at £15.30 (September 2026)
- Match-day parking
- Must be booked in advance through the official ticketing site
Waterloo to Twickenham: read the journey time, not the destination
Twickenham is ten miles from Waterloo, and several different services call there. Some run fast through Richmond. Others take the long way round by Hounslow or the Kingston loop, stopping everywhere. A sample of one midday half hour from the operator's own timetable shows the spread: departures at 22, 23, 33, 33 and 45 minutes, all direct, all to the same platform at the far end.
| From | Journey | Time |
|---|---|---|
| London Waterloo | Direct, fast service | 22-23 min |
| London Waterloo | Direct, all-stations service | 33-45 min |
| Clapham Junction | Direct | 12-13 min |
| Richmond | Direct, one stop | 3-5 min |
| Windsor & Eton Riverside | Direct, on the Waterloo line | Check on the day |
The average across the whole day is 22 minutes, which is the figure most guides quote and the one you should not rely on for a fixed kick-off. Look at the duration column when you pick a train. Clapham Junction is worth knowing about if you are staying south of the river, because it saves the trip into Waterloo altogether; our guide to London's main railway terminals explains which one suits where you are.
The same line carries on to Windsor, which makes a neat pairing for anyone with a spare day: our page on the two routes from London to Windsor covers that leg.
Photo: Sunil060902 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized
The walk from the station, and how long it really takes
Turn right out of Twickenham station and follow Whitton Road. The stadium's own page and South Western Railway's station page both describe it as a ten-minute walk, and on an ordinary Tuesday that is accurate.
On a match day it is not. Eighty-two thousand people use the same pavement in the same direction, and the pace is set by the slowest person in front of you. Budget twenty minutes each way and you will not be anxious. It is flat the whole way, which is the one mercy.
The roads around the ground close for about two hours on a match day. The stadium warns that the surrounding streets become heavily congested and are temporarily closed. That affects buses, taxis and anyone being collected by car, and it is the reason arranging a lift to the station afterwards rarely works. Walk, or use a train.
Four other stations, and what each costs you in walking
When the platform at Twickenham is being held by staff after a match, the alternatives start to look attractive. The stadium lists them with honest walking times, and they are longer than people expect.
| Station | Walk to the stadium | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Twickenham | 10 minutes | Zone 5. The default, and the most crowded |
| Whitton | 20 minutes | Zone 5, on the same line, 27 minutes direct from Waterloo |
| Hounslow | 30 minutes | National Rail |
| Hounslow East | 30 minutes | Piccadilly line, so a different network entirely |
| Richmond | 45 minutes | District line, Overground and National Rail |
Whitton is the practical escape. Twenty minutes on foot in the opposite direction to everyone else, then a direct train back into Waterloo, will usually beat queueing at Twickenham. Hounslow East is the one to remember if the railway is disrupted, because the Piccadilly line is a separate system with separate problems.
Richmond is too far to walk after a match, but it is three to five minutes away by train and is where a lot of people sensibly spend the hour afterwards. Our guides to Richmond and to Twickenham and the Richmond riverside describe both, and Richmond Park is a good use of a morning before an evening kick-off.
Buses, and what the closures do to them
Several routes stop close to the ground: the 110, 281, 481 and 681 within a minute's walk, the H20 within five, the 267 within eight, and the 33, 290, 490, H22, R68 and R70 within ten to fifteen. A single bus fare is £1.75, rising to £1.85 on 1 November 2026, and the Hopper covers any further buses within the hour.
The important qualification is in the stadium's own wording: the 281 and 481 are subject to diversions once the match-day road closures go in. In other words, the two routes that stop nearest the ground are the two least likely to be there when you want them. Treat buses as a way of arriving early, not as a way of leaving. Our guide to London's buses explains the fare and how to pay.
What it costs, and why the 16:00 rule matters here
Twickenham is in Zone 5 and contactless and Oyster work on every service there, so you do not need a paper ticket. The ceiling for a day covering Zones 1 to 5 is £15.30 (September 2026), which includes your Tube travel around London as well as the trip out and back. Two adults therefore pay at most £30.60 between them for the whole day.
If you buy a paper ticket instead, the peak rules bite. National Rail applies a morning peak from 04:30 to 09:30 on weekdays, and an evening peak from 16:00 to 19:00 on weekdays for journeys from or through London on routes where contactless is available. National Rail sets both out on its page on peak times in London and the South East. A Saturday fixture is off-peak all day. A weekday evening kick-off puts your outward journey squarely inside the evening peak, and on these routes a single now costs roughly half a return, so two singles bought separately can be cheaper than a return when one leg is peak and the other is not.
Railcards give a third off, and overseas visitors can buy the Two Together and 16-25 cards online as digital cards. None of that applies to contactless, which carries no discounts at all. Our guides to buying UK train tickets, railcards worth buying as a visitor and Oyster, contactless and caps set out the arithmetic, and children's fares covers the under-16s.
Driving, and the two car parks that are not the stadium
The road approach is straightforward on paper: leave the M25 at junction 12 onto the M3, which becomes the A316, and the ground is off the Whitton Road roundabout. Coming out from central London you turn right off the A316 at the same roundabout. The stadium notes that the A316 is busy at peak times, and that is before the closures.
Parking at the stadium on a match day has to be booked in advance through the official ticketing site. On non-match days there is controlled parking in the West car park, entered from Rugby Road, and the North car park, entered from Whitton Dene. Before big matches the on-site car parks close, and the stadium offers the Rosebine car park instead, about ten minutes away on foot.
Twickenham is inside the Ultra Low Emission Zone, so a car falling short of the emissions standard costs £12.50 for the day, and that day is reckoned from one midnight to the next. There are seven electric charging points on site, but only on non-match days. Our guides to London's driving charges and parking in London explain both, and the honest summary is that this is one of the worst places in London to bring a car on an event day.
Getting back after the final whistle
The last train from Waterloo to Twickenham leaves at 00:36 on weekdays and 00:18 at weekends, which sounds generous until you remember that you want the trains going the other way, and that the platform is under crowd control for the first hour.
Three things make the return leg work. Walk to Whitton and take a direct train from there. Or let the crowd go: Twickenham and Richmond both have plenty of places to sit for an hour, and the difference between leaving at 18:15 and 19:15 is the difference between standing and sitting. Or, if you have a fixed onward connection from Waterloo, leave at least ninety minutes after the final whistle before it departs.
A Sunday fixture is the one to watch. The 2027 Six Nations puts England against France at 16:10 on Sunday 14 February, which means leaving the ground in the dark on the evening of the week with the thinnest train service. Our pages on first and last trains and on crossing between London's terminals matter more on that night than on a Saturday.
Arriving from an airport or from outside London
Twickenham is six miles from Heathrow, the closest any major London venue gets to an airport. There is no direct rail link, so the usual route is into central London and back out, or a taxi across, which is short but crosses some poor roads. Our guide to arriving at Heathrow covers the options into town. The stadium lists London City at 20 miles, Gatwick at 30 and Stansted at 50.
Coming from elsewhere in Britain, the change is at Waterloo, which is not connected to any other main-line terminal by a single rail service; allow the full crossing time. If your ticket into London is an Advance fare tied to one train, leave 90 minutes for the return connection rather than the hour you would allow on an ordinary day.
Step-free travel and going with children
Twickenham station is staffed every day and has ticket machines, and South Western Railway can arrange Passenger Assist if it is booked at least two hours ahead on 0343 222 2000. The walk from the station to the ground is level, which makes it manageable with a wheelchair or a pushchair once the crowd has thinned, and impossible while it has not. Arrive early or leave late; there is no middle option.
Children aged 5 to 15 get half off most National Rail fares, and on contactless there is no child rate at all, so a paper ticket is usually better value for a family than tapping in. Our guide to step-free transport in London explains what staff can do, and our page on stadium tours covers visiting on a day when the roads are open and the pavements are empty.
Frequently asked questions
Which train do I take to Twickenham Stadium?
Trains run to Twickenham from London Waterloo with South Western Railway, and the walk from the station is about ten minutes down Whitton Road. Fast services take 22 to 23 minutes and slower ones up to 45, so check the journey time before you board. Contactless and Oyster both work.
How far is Twickenham station from the stadium?
The stadium and South Western Railway both give it as a ten-minute walk, turning right out of the station and following Whitton Road. On a match day, with more than 80,000 people moving the same way, allow twenty minutes in each direction.
Is there another station near Twickenham Stadium?
Yes, four. Whitton is a 20-minute walk and sits on the same line back to Waterloo, which makes it the best alternative after a match. Hounslow and Hounslow East are 30 minutes away on foot, and Richmond is 45, although Richmond is only a few minutes by train from Twickenham.
Can I drive to Twickenham Stadium on a match day?
Only with a parking space booked in advance through the official ticketing site, and the roads around the ground close for roughly two hours. Twickenham also sits inside the Ultra Low Emission Zone, which adds £12.50 a day for a non-compliant car.
How much does the train to Twickenham cost?
Pay with contactless or an Oyster card and a whole day of travel covering Zones 1 to 5 is capped at £15.30 (September 2026), including your other journeys around London. A paper ticket may be better value for children, who get half off most National Rail fares, because contactless carries no discounts.
Sources
- Allianz Stadium Twickenham - Getting here: stations, walking times, buses and parking (Internet Archive copy, 20 May 2026; the live site blocks automated access) (checked September 2026)
- South Western Railway - Twickenham station: zone, facilities and the walk to the stadium (checked September 2026)
- South Western Railway - London Waterloo to Twickenham journey summary, first and last trains (checked September 2026)
- National Rail - Changes to tickets and peak times in London and the South East (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Daily and weekly fare caps (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Ultra Low Emission Zone (checked September 2026)
- Six Nations Rugby - 2027 fixtures and kick-off times (checked September 2026)