The Night Tube: which lines run, what times, and where it stops short

The Night Tube runs on Friday and Saturday nights only, from roughly midnight until about half past five, on five lines: the Victoria, the Jubilee, the Central, the Northern and the Piccadilly. Trains come every ten to twenty minutes depending on the line and the hour. That is the whole rule, and it is the single most useful thing to know before you book anything late in London.

What follows is the part people get wrong: the Night Tube does not run on all of every line, and the gaps are exactly where you would want it most.

Which lines, and where they stop short

Victoria. The whole line, about every ten minutes. The simplest of the five and the reason Brixton and Walthamstow are easy nights out.

Jubilee. The whole line, Stanmore to Stratford, about every ten minutes. Good for the South Bank, Canada Water and the O2.

Central. About every ten minutes between White City and Leytonstone, and about every twenty on the outer stretches from Ealing Broadway to White City and from Leytonstone out to Loughton via Hainault. No service between North Acton and West Ruislip, between Loughton and Epping, or between Woodford and Hainault.

Northern. About every eight minutes between Morden and Camden Town, then about every fifteen from Camden Town out to High Barnet and Edgware. No service on the Bank branch, which catches people out constantly, and none to Mill Hill East. If you are heading south from the City after midnight, walk to Charing Cross or take the Victoria.

Piccadilly. Every ten minutes from Cockfosters to Heathrow Terminal 5, which makes an early flight after a late night genuinely possible. No service on the Terminal 4 loop or between Acton Town and Uxbridge.

The Overground runs too, and almost nobody knows

The Windrush line runs between Highbury and Islington and New Cross Gate on Friday and Saturday nights, about every fifteen minutes. That is Dalston, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Rotherhithe and New Cross covered, which is most of where people are actually out. If you are in east or south-east London it is often the better answer than walking to a Tube.

What this means for a night out

Friday and Saturday, on those five lines and the Windrush, you can stay out as late as you like and the journey home costs a normal fare. Every other night of the week, the last trains go somewhere between half past midnight and one, and after that it is the night bus, which does run everywhere and all night, or a cab.

So the practical rule is this: a Tuesday late night is a different proposition from a Saturday one, and anything we list as running past eleven on a weekday deserves a look at how you are getting back before you commit. Where a venue sits on a Night Tube line, our listing says so.

Things that catch people out

Fares are off-peak all night, and the daily cap still applies, so a late journey home rarely costs much. Stations are not all open: some interchanges close their connections overnight even when trains run through. The service does not run on nights before a bank holiday Monday unless it happens to be a Saturday. And engineering work closes sections at weekends more often than on weekdays, because that is when it is done, so check before you rely on it.

Our rule for this page

Lines and frequencies here are checked against Transport for London. Night Tube coverage changes, sometimes at short notice and sometimes for months during industrial action, so treat this as the shape of the service and the TfL status page as the truth on the night.