SearchLondon Travel Advice
If your journey is necessary, make sure you plan before you set off by checking each train operator’s guidance on best times to travel and routes to avoid so you can travel safely. You will also need to bring a face covering with you to wear throughout your journey, as it is now compulsory. To find out if you are exempt, see our Face Covering Exemptions page
The health and wellbeing of our customers and staff are our top priority which is why we are working closely with train companies and the government to take the steps needed to keep train running while keeping you safe.
Train Operator's Guidance
Make sure you check train operator’s guidance below when travelling in and around London.
This information will be updated regularly as things change.
c2c
Best times to travel with us:
- Towards London after 08:30
- Out of London before 15:00
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
Stations
It is advised that you avoid West Ham station before 08:30.
It is advised that you avoid Barking station before 08:30.
It is advised that you avoid London Fenchurch Street station before 08:00.
Services
The busiest trains into London are:
- 05:13 Shoeburyness to London Fenchurch Street via Laindon
- 06:15 Grays to London Fenchurch Street via Ockendon
- 05:08 Thorpe Bay to London Fenchurch Street via Ockendon
- 05:53 Grays to London Fenchurch Street via Rainham
- 05:34 Shoeburyness to London Fenchurch Street via Rainham
- 05:48 Pitsea to London Fenchurch Street via Rainham
- 07:17 Grays to London Fenchurch Street via Ockendon
- 05:28 Shoeburyness to London Fenchurch Street via Laindon
- 04:15 Shoeburyness to London Fenchurch Street via Laindon
- 04:59 Shoeburyness to London Fenchurch Street via Laindon
The busiest trains out of London are:
- 06:29 from London Fenchurch Street to Grays
- 18:55 from London Fenchurch Street to Pitsea via Rainham
- 17:01 from London Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness via Laindon
- 16:45 from London Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness via Laindon
- 16:31 from London Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness via Laindon
Alternative Travel Modes:
Please avoid neighbouring Jubilee; District and Hammersmith & City Line services before 08:30.
More Information:
More coronavirus travel information is available from the c2c website
Chiltern Railways
East Midlands Railway
Best times to travel with us:
Travel outside of peak hours when you can. Our busiest times vary by route but generally the quietest times of the day are mid morning to early afternoon (10:00-13:00) and in the evening (after 19:00).
We will regularly update our "seat finder" so customers may check expected loads in advance of travel, on the day any trains reported above social distancing capacity will be flagged as a service message.
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
Our busiest services in to London St. Pancras are the 04:37 from Derby, 04:52 from Leicester and 05:23 from Sheffield. The busiest services from London St Pancras are the 09:30 to Sheffield and 15:05, 16:05 and 17:05 to Nottingham.
More information:
More coronavirus travel information from the East Midlands Railway site.
Great Northern
Best times to travel with us:
Travel outside of peak hours where you can. Our busiest times vary by route.
We are carefully monitoring all trains and stations for increased passenger numbers. We are adding alerts to journey planners on trains where we believe social distancing on board may be difficult.
As you can expect, trains get busier as they get closer to London in the morning. And are busy leaving London in the evening.
If stations become exceptionally busy, we may restrict access and introduce queueing systems. At any stations where crowding has been reported, we will list this information on National Rail Enquiries, the service updates page of our website and on live departure boards for that station.
We monitor our alerting tools daily and will keep updating the detail on this page.
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
- Finsbury Park is busiest between 07:30 and 08:30
- New services have been added between Hertford North and London to support social distancing. Please check ahead using a journey planner
More Information:
More coronavirus travel information from the Great Northern site.
Great Western Railway
Best times to travel with us:
We recommend travelling at quieter times, avoiding peak morning and evening services. Travel between 10:00-15:00 and after 19:00 on weekdays, if possible.
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
At busy times, there will be a one-way queuing system in operation at London Paddington to ensure social distancing can be maintained. Please allow extra time when arriving and leaving the station, especially during peak times (07:00-09:00 & 17:00-19:00 weekdays).
Based on recent figures we recommend the following to avoid the busiest times at stations and on our trains
Towards London Paddington:
Twyford: travel after 08:00
Maidenhead: travel after 08:10
Burnham: travel after 08:00
Slough: travel after 07:25
West Drayton: travel after 08:00
Hayes & Harlington: travel after 08:00
Southall: travel after 08:00
Ealing Broadway: travel after 08:00
From London Paddington:
Where possible travel before 15:00 or after 17:30. Services between 19:25 and 20:00 have also been busy, use alternatives if you can.
More information:
More coronavirus travel information from the Great Western Railway site.
Greater Anglia
Best times to travel with us:
Travel to London to arrive after 09.00 where you can and try to avoid leaving London between 16:30 and 18:30.
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
The busiest trains are:
- 05:00 Norwich to London Liverpool Street
- 05:45 Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street
- 05:28 Clacton to London Liverpool Street
- 06:09, 06:39 and 07:09 Hertford East to London Liverpool Street
More information:
More coronavirus travel information from the Greater Anglia site and to find less busy Greater Anglia trains, click here.
London Northwestern Railway
Best times to travel with us:
Travel outside of peak hours where you can. Our busiest times vary by route.
We are carefully monitoring all trains for increased passenger numbers. We are adding alerts to journey planners on trains where we believe social distancing may be difficult.
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
The busiest trains into London Euston are the:
05:38 Bletchley to London Euston (which arrives into London at 06:40)
05:38 Coventry to London Euston (which arrives into London at 07:22)
More information:
More coronavirus travel information from the London Northwestern Railway site
South Western Railway
Best times to travel with us:
Arriving into London after 08:30 and departing London before 15:00 or after 18:30
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
On weekdays London Waterloo, Clapham Junction, Wimbledon and Vauxhall stations are busy for interchanges, particularly before 08:30.
The busiest trains into London are:
04:40 Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo
05:04 Southampton Central to London Waterloo
05:14 Guildford to London Waterloo
05:23 Portsmouth & Southsea to London Waterloo
05:24 Bournemouth to London Waterloo
05:37 Guildford to London Waterloo
05:42 Reading to London Waterloo
05:41 Staines to London Waterloo
05:43 Salisbury to London Waterloo
05:50 Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo
05:57 London Waterloo via Twickenham to London Waterloo
06:11 Reading to London Waterloo
06:28 Guildford to London Waterloo
06:54 Hampton Court to London Waterloo
07:00 Shepperton to London Waterloo
The busiest trains departing London are:
15:03 London Waterloo to Guildford
15:27 London Waterloo via Twickenham to London Waterloo
15:57 London Waterloo via Twickenham to London Waterloo
16:00 London Waterloo to Bournemouth
16:06 London Waterloo to Hampton Court
16:07 London Waterloo via Twickenham to London Waterloo
16:09 London Waterloo to Dorking
16:20 London Waterloo to Woking
More information:
More coronavirus travel information from the South Western Railway site
Southeastern
Best times to travel with us:
Currently our busiest trains are those arriving into London on weekdays between 06:00 and 08:00, and departing London on weekdays between 16:00 and 18:00. In order to aid with social distancing on these trains please look to undertake your journey outside these times if that is possible. This includes our High Speed services into and out of London St Pancras International.
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
The following stations are generally the busiest and we suggest that you avoid travelling through these stations between the above times, if you can:
- London Bridge
- London Victoria
- London Charing Cross
- Waterloo East
- Lewisham
- London Cannon Street
- Bromley South
- St Pancras International
- Woolwich Arsenal
- Dartford
A number of our stations have one-way systems in place - please take note of signage and obey instructions from station staff.
We are undertaking active monitoring of our services and stations in order to tell our passengers where social distancing is more difficult to achieve. Please check journey planners and departure boards for latest information on specific trains.
If you interchange between Southeastern to TfL or DLR please be aware that there may be additional arrangements in place at these interchanges to control passenger numbers.
Please listen to station staff announcements at our stations, and take heed of on-board announcements on our train services, as they may be passing on information on quieter parts of the train to board or relocate to.
More information:
More coronavirus travel information from the Southeastern site
Southern
Best times to travel with us:
Travel outside of peak hours where you can. Our busiest times vary by route.
We are carefully monitoring all trains and stations for increased passenger numbers. We are adding alerts to journey planners on trains where we believe social distancing on board may be difficult.
As you can expect, trains get busier as they get closer to London in the morning. And are busy leaving London in the evening.
If stations become exceptionally busy, we may restrict access and introduce queueing systems. We monitor our alerting tools daily and will keep updating the details on this page.
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
- East Croydon station gets busy between 06:00 and 07:00.
- Trains between East Croydon and London are busy between 06:00 and 08:00.
- Trains between Sutton and London Victoria via both Selhurst and Mitcham Junction are busy between 05:30 and 08:30. We’ve added extra trains and increased the number of coaches on trains on these routes where we can.
- Trains leaving London Victoria and London Bridge are busiest between 16:00 and 19:00.
- When the weather is warm, particularly at weekends; trains from London Victoria to the coast are the busiest from 09:00 through to 12:00, with busy trains back to London from 16:00 through to 19:00.
More Information:
More coronavirus travel information from the Southern site
Stansted Express
Best times to travel with us:
Travel outside peak times if you can.
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
While there are no airport services with heavy loadings yet, we are keeping a close eye on this.
Please avoid travelling in the peak where possible.
Please avoid interchanging at Tottenham Hale between 06:30 and 08:30 and between 16:30 and 18:30.
More information:
More coronavirus travel information from the Stansted Express site. To find less busy Stansted Express trains, see the Greater Anglia website.
Thameslink
Best times to travel with us:
Travel outside of peak hours where you can. Our busiest times vary by route.
We are carefully monitoring all trains and stations for increased passenger numbers. We are adding alerts to journey planners on trains where we believe social distancing on board may be difficult.
As you can expect, trains get busier as they get closer to London in the morning - and are busy leaving London in the evening.
If stations become exceptionally busy, we may restrict access and introduce queueing systems.
We monitor our alerting tools daily and will keep updating the detail on this page.
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
- East Croydon station gets busy between 06:00 and 07:00
- Trains between East Croydon and London are busy between 06:00 and 08:00
- Finsbury Park is busiest between 07:30 and 08:30
- Trains between Rainham and London Bridge that arrive in London between 07:00 and 08:00 get busy during the journey
- Trains between Sevenoaks and Blackfriars that arrive in London between 06:45 and 08:00 get busy during the journey
- Trains between Blackfriars and Sevenoaks that leave London between 16:45 and 18:00 are busy
- When the weather is warm, particularly at weekends; trains from Blackfriars and London Bridge to Brighton are busiest from 09:00 through to 12:00, with busy trains back to London from 16:00 through to 19:00.
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
More coronavirus travel information from the Thameslink site.
TfL - London Buses, Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, London Underground, TfL Rail and Tramlink
Avoid public transport if possible
In line with Government advice, everyone who can work from home should continue to do so.
If you can, use existing or new walking and cycling routes. This will free up the limited space available to those who have no alternative way to travel.
Busy stations, services or interchanges:
If you must use public transport, avoid the busiest times between 05:45 and 08:15 and between 16:00 and 17:30, and these stations ,stops and interchanges on the network:
- Barking - You will be expected to queue to enter the station and should avoid the station altogether and take a more direct route if possible
- Brixton - You should expect to queue to enter the station
- Canada Water - Avoid using the station and take a more direct route if possible
- Canning Town - You will be expected to queue to enter the station and should avoid the station altogether and take a more direct route if possible
- Clapham Junction - Avoid using the station and take a more direct route if possible
- East Ham - You should expect to queue to enter the station
- Finsbury Park - You will be expected to queue to enter the station and should avoid the station altogether and take a more direct route if possible
- Lewisham DLR - You should expect to queue to enter the station
- Leyton - You should expect to queue to enter the station
- Liverpool Street - You should expect to queue to enter the station
- London Bridge (Tube) - You should expect to queue to enter the station
- North Acton - Avoid using the station and take a more direct route if possible
- Romford - You should expect to queue to enter the station
- Seven Sisters - You will be expected to queue to enter the station and should avoid the station altogether and take a more direct route if possible
- Stratford - You will be expected to queue to enter the station and should avoid the station altogether and take a more direct route if possible
- Upton Park - You should expect to queue to enter the station
- Walthamstow Central - You will be expected to queue to enter the station and should avoid the station altogether and take a more direct route if possible
- West Croydon - You should expect to queue to enter the station
- West Ham - Avoid using the station and take a more direct route if possible
- Wood Green - You should expect to queue to enter the station
- Woolwich Arsenal - You will be expected to queue to enter the station and should avoid the station altogether and take a more direct route if possible
These lines are currently the busiest on the network and social distancing may not be possible:
- Central line between South Woodford / Redbridge and Stratford
- Central line between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road
- Jubilee line between Stratford and Westminster
- District line between Dagenham Heathway and Aldgate East
- Victoria line
- Overground between Stratford and Willesden Junction
- DLR between Woolwich Arsenal and Canning Town
More information
If you must use public transport, check the busiest stations, routes and times to travel.
For the latest information and travel advice, visit tfl.gov.uk/coronavirus
Last updated: 24 June 2020
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