Getting home after midnight in London: what runs at night and what it costs

The evening has run long, the last trains are going — and the only question is how to get home and what it will cost. London has three different night systems, and they do not run on the same days. Here is how they work.

Which Tube lines run at night?

On Friday and Saturday nights, trains run right through on five lines: Central, Victoria, Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly. On every other night the Tube closes as usual.

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It is not the whole line that runs, but specific sections:

• Jubilee — Stanmore to Stratford, every 10 minutes.
• Piccadilly — Cockfosters to Heathrow Terminal 5, every 10 minutes. So a weekend night flight into Heathrow still has a train.
• Victoria — Walthamstow Central to Brixton.
• Northern — Edgware and High Barnet to Morden via Charing Cross, every 15 minutes; every 7–8 minutes between Camden Town and Morden. The Bank branch does not run at night.
• Central — Ealing Broadway and White City out to Hainault and Loughton. Every 20 minutes on the outer sections, every 10 between White City and Leytonstone.

Is there a night train other than the Tube?

Yes — one London Overground line. The Windrush line (the former East London Line) runs through Friday and Saturday nights between Highbury & Islington and New Cross Gate, every 15 minutes. For east and south-east London that is often faster than the bus.

What if it is not a Friday or a Saturday?

Then it is the bus — and the bus is London's real night network. Night routes carry an N before the number (N29, N15, N155 and so on), and together with the 24-hour routes they cover the city roughly from 23:00 to 06:00, seven nights a week.

The logic is simple: almost every night route goes through the centre — Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street, Victoria. So the usual night journey home is "get to the centre and change there", even if your daytime route looks nothing like that.

What does a night journey cost?

A bus is £1.75, and the Hopper fare applies: for one hour after your first paid bus or tram journey, every further bus or tram change is free. A trip across the centre with two changes still costs £1.75 if you stay inside the hour.

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The daily cap on buses and trams is £5.25 — however many times you board, you will not be charged more than that in a day.

When do fares go up?

From 1 November 2026 the bus and tram fare rises by 10p to £1.85, and the daily cap goes to £5.55 — still exactly the price of three journeys. The Hopper rule is unchanged.

What should you check before you leave?

Three things spoil most night journeys. First, your line may not run its full length at night — the last stop is closer in than it is by day. Second, TfL does its engineering work at weekends, and the night service is the first thing taken out. Third, if you are flying from Heathrow or Gatwick, look at the night bus as well as the train: sometimes it takes longer but runs direct and costs less.