London’s last orders and London’s last trains are two different deadlines, and knowing the second is what separates a good night from a £70 taxi. On Friday and Saturday the Tube does not stop at all on six lines. Every other night it does, and the rules change completely.
This is what actually runs, where it does not go, and what it costs.
Which Night Tube London lines run all night
Six, and only on Friday and Saturday nights: the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria and Windrush lines.
That last one is the London Overground, renamed in 2024, and it is the one most guides still leave out.
Three of the six do not run their whole route. This is where people get caught, because the line is on the map and the branch is not:
- Central: Ealing Broadway to Loughton and Hainault, via Newbury Park. West Ruislip and Epping are not served.
- Northern: High Barnet and Edgware to Morden, via the Charing Cross branch only. The Bank branch is closed, so Old Street, Moorgate and London Bridge are not night stations on this line.
- Piccadilly: Cockfosters to Heathrow Terminal 5. Terminal 4 and the Uxbridge branch are not served.
The Jubilee and Victoria run end to end, which is why they are the two to aim for. The Windrush line covers Highbury & Islington down to New Cross Gate.
The Bank branch trap
Worth its own heading because it catches people every weekend. If you are in the City or at London Bridge and you head for the Northern line, there is no northbound night train from those platforms. Walk to a Charing Cross-branch station. Bank to Monument to Cannon Street will not help you; you want to get to Waterloo, Embankment, Charing Cross, Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road or Euston.
From Soho and Covent Garden this is academic: you are already on the branch that runs.
What it costs
Night Tube journeys are charged at off-peak rates. There is no night surcharge and no separate night fare.
Two details worth knowing:
Daily capping still applies on Oyster and contactless, so a heavy night out on top of a heavy day may cost you nothing further.
A Day Travelcard covers you past midnight. TfL’s wording: it is valid on the day of issue and for journeys starting before 04:30 the following day. So a Friday Travelcard gets you home at 03:00 on Saturday morning.
Sunday to Thursday
No Night Tube at all. The last trains go somewhere between roughly midnight and half past, earlier from the outer ends of each line, and the network is then closed until about 05:30.
On those nights the night bus is the real answer, and London’s is genuinely good: the N routes run all night, every night, and most of them pass through Trafalgar Square. Fares are the flat bus fare with the hopper allowing a change within the hour.
The other honest answer is a black cab, which is metered and regulated, or a booked private hire car. An unbooked car offering you a lift is neither.
Practical notes
Check the branch, not the line. This is the whole of the advice. “The Northern line runs” is true and still leaves you stranded at London Bridge.
The centre is well covered and the edges are not. Almost everything in this guide happens inside Zone 1, where all six lines are running. It is the last twenty minutes of the journey that goes wrong.
Waits are longer than you expect on the branches. Trains run through the night, but a branch at 03:00 is not a Tuesday rush hour.
Plan the way home before the last drink, not after. It takes thirty seconds and it is the difference between the off-peak fare and surge pricing.
Everything here was taken from TfL’s own published information and rechecked on 2 October 2026. Night services are suspended during engineering works and on some bank holiday weekends, so check the night before if the whole evening depends on it.
What TfL publishes about the Night Tube in London and most guides leave out
Every station is staffed for as long as trains are running, exactly as in the day. That is TfL’s stated policy rather than an aspiration, and it is the single most reassuring fact about travelling at three in the morning.
Step-free access at night is the same as during the day service. No station loses its step-free route because of the hour, so if a station works for you on a Tuesday afternoon it works at 2am on a Sunday.
If you witness an incident, text the British Transport Police on 61016 or call 0800 40 50 40. In an emergency call 999. There are passenger alarms on trains and help points on platforms. Worth putting the text number in your phone before a night out rather than looking for it during one.
TfL publishes a map of which Night Tube stations have taxi ranks running, which is the detail that decides what happens when you get off at the wrong end of the line. Check it before you travel rather than assuming a rank will be there.
Maintenance happens Sunday to Thursday on the Night Tube lines wherever possible, which is the other half of why the service runs only at weekends.
Where to go next
London at night is the main guide to what is actually open late. The cocktail bars and the speakeasies both list closing times, which is the number that matters here.
Landing late is the version of this problem that catches visitors. The six airports covers how far out each one is, Stansted to London has the coach that runs 24 hours where the train does not, and what the tube costs covers the fares once you are in. The Piccadilly line to Heathrow is one of the lines that runs all night on Friday and Saturday, although not to Terminal 4. airport drop-off charges apply at any hour, the Congestion Charge does not run at night, since it stops at 18:00, and Santander Cycles run all night and are the other way home, at £1.65 for half an hour. Night fares are always charged off peak, which the Travelcard guide sets against the daily cap.
Gatwick to London is the same question asked at the other end of the night. The coach runs from 1:00am and no train on that route does, which is the only reason to take it.
And if you are staying central, our Soho guide covers the square mile where none of this is a problem.
Questions we get asked
Which lines run all night in London?
Six: the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria and Windrush lines, on Friday and Saturday nights only. Three of the six do not run their whole route, so a line running is not the same as your station being open. The Jubilee and the Victoria are the two that run end to end.
How much does the Night Tube cost?
The same as an off-peak daytime journey. Night Tube fares are charged at off-peak rates, with no night surcharge and no separate night fare. Daily capping still applies on Oyster and contactless, so a late night on top of a full day of travel may cost you nothing further, and a Day Travelcard covers you past midnight.
Does the Night Tube run on weeknights?
No, Friday and Saturday nights only. From Sunday to Thursday the night bus is the real answer, and it is worth working out which one you need before you go out rather than at one in the morning. The other honest options are a black cab, which is metered and regulated, or a private hire car booked in advance.
What is the Bank branch trap on the Night Tube?
The Northern line splits, and only one branch serves the stations most people want at night. If you are heading for Waterloo, Embankment, Charing Cross, Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road or Euston you need the correct branch, and boarding the wrong one takes you somewhere else entirely. Check the branch rather than the line.
How do you get home in London when the Night Tube is not running?
The night bus network, which runs every night and covers far more of London than the six Night Tube lines do. Failing that, a black cab is metered and regulated, and a private hire car is legitimate if it has been booked in advance. An unbooked car offering you a lift in the street is neither of those things.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 38 in the guide.
Last checked 2 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
