Liverpool Street

Live status — lines serving Liverpool Street

Live departures from Liverpool Street

Liverpool Street is the City of London's main eastern gateway and one of only two stations (along with Bank) where five rail services meet. The 2022 opening of the Elizabeth line added a vast new underground concourse and tripled the station's effective capacity. Above ground it remains a Victorian terminus serving East Anglia — Cambridge, Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, the Essex commuter belt — plus the Stansted Express, which puts the airport within 50 minutes of central London.

If Liverpool Street is closed

• Going on the Central? Walk 8 minutes west to Bank (Central, Northern Bank branch, Waterloo & City, DLR), or 7 minutes north to Moorgate (Northern, Circle, H&C, Metropolitan, Elizabeth via short walk).
• Going on the Elizabeth (west)? Walk 7 minutes south-west to Moorgate for Elizabeth-line access at the eastern entrance, or stay on the train to the next stop, Farringdon.
• Going on the Elizabeth (east)? Walk 12 minutes south-east to Whitechapel for the same line, or take the bus down Bishopsgate.
• Going on the Circle, H&C or Metropolitan? Walk 7 minutes north-west to Moorgate for the same three lines.
• Mainline (Greater Anglia / Stansted Express) alternative — most services also call at Stratford, which is two stops east on the Elizabeth line and rarely affected when Liverpool Street itself is.

About the station

Liverpool Street has two stations stitched together: a Victorian mainline terminus opened in 1874 by the Great Eastern Railway, and a modern Underground complex that has grown around and beneath it over 150 years. The sub-surface platforms (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan) opened with the Metropolitan Railway extension to Aldgate in 1875. The Central line arrived in 1912. The most recent addition — the Elizabeth line — opened on 24 May 2022 and added an entirely new underground concourse running north-south beneath Bishopsgate, with its own ticket halls at Liverpool Street and Moorgate.

Above ground, the mainline station is a Victorian Gothic masterpiece that was nearly demolished in the 1970s. The campaign to save it succeeded in 1985, and it was instead carefully restored and expanded during the Broadgate development of 1985–1991, which built the modern office blocks that now surround it. The IRA bombing of 24 April 1993 — one of the largest attacks on the City — caused major damage and led to a further round of rebuilding in the 1990s.

Lines that serve Liverpool Street

• Elizabeth line — west to Farringdon, Tottenham Court Road, Bond Street, Paddington, Heathrow and Reading; east to Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Stratford, Shenfield and Abbey Wood. The newest and fastest cross-London option. Step-free.
• Central line — east to Bethnal Green, Stratford, Epping and the Hainault loop; west to Bank, Holborn, Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Circus, Bond Street, Marble Arch, Notting Hill Gate and Ealing Broadway.
• Circle line — the sub-surface loop around central London via Moorgate, King's Cross, Paddington, Victoria, Westminster and Tower Hill.
• Hammersmith & City line — east-west sub-surface line from Hammersmith (via Paddington, King's Cross, Moorgate) to Barking via Whitechapel.
• Metropolitan line — the original 1863 Underground line, north-west into Buckinghamshire (Amersham, Chesham, Watford, Uxbridge).

Step-free access

Liverpool Street has full step-free access from street to train on the Elizabeth line and the sub-surface Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. The Central line platforms are reachable by lift via the Elizabeth line ticket hall — the journey is step-free but the route is long (allow 5–8 minutes for the lift sequence).

Direct lift access from the original Bishopsgate ticket hall to the Central line was not part of the Elizabeth line works and remains a known accessibility gap. Boarding ramps are available on request for the Elizabeth line; the sub-surface platforms are level-boarding.

See the full step-free Tube stations guide for what step-free actually covers and how stations differ.

Exits and what is nearby

• Main concourse (Liverpool Street) — direct exit into the mainline station concourse. Closest to Greater Anglia services, Stansted Express and the Liverpool Street bus interchange.
• Bishopsgate exit — closest to Spitalfields Market, Old Spitalfields, Brick Lane (10 min walk east), Petticoat Lane Market and the Bishopsgate office cluster.
• Broadgate Circle / Eldon Street — closest to the Broadgate offices, the Broadgate Tower, and the eastern City fringe.
• Moorgate Ticket Hall (Elizabeth line — west exit) — actually exits at Moorgate, a short walk west. Useful if you want to avoid the main concourse crowds.
• Old Broad Street — closest to Tower 42, the Heron Tower (110 Bishopsgate) and the south-side office cluster.

A bit of history

Liverpool Street opened on 2 February 1874 as the Great Eastern Railway's London terminus, replacing an earlier station at Bishopsgate. The Metropolitan Railway reached Liverpool Street the following year, in 1875, making the sub-surface platforms here some of the oldest underground railway platforms anywhere in the world (after only the original 1863 Paddington–Farringdon section). The Central line arrived in 1912 as part of its extension east from Bank.

The Broadgate development of 1985–1991 rebuilt the mainline concourse and added the office complex that defines the station's modern character. The 1993 IRA Bishopsgate bombing caused major damage but accelerated the modernisation. The Crossrail / Elizabeth line works took over 13 years from approval to opening, with construction at Liverpool Street running from 2009 to 2022.

Common quirks

• The Elizabeth line concourse is huge. Allow extra time if interchanging — the walk from the Central line to the Elizabeth line eastbound platform can be 5–7 minutes including escalators.
• Two ticket halls, one station. The Liverpool Street ticket hall serves all lines including Elizabeth. The Moorgate ticket hall (a 5-minute walk west via the concourse) is the western entrance to the same Elizabeth line platforms. Pick whichever exit is closer to your destination.
• Stansted Express check-in. Trains run from a dedicated platform group (usually 1–2 or 9–10). Allow 5–10 minutes from the Tube gateline to the train.
• The sub-surface lines don't run Night Tube. Only the Central runs on Friday and Saturday nights here. For the Elizabeth line, last trains are around midnight on most nights.
• Spitalfields is one minute away. The Bishopsgate exit leads almost directly to Old Spitalfields Market — Sunday is the biggest day, but the food traders run daily.

Frequently asked questions

Which lines serve Liverpool Street?

Five rail services: the Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Elizabeth lines. Liverpool Street is also a major National Rail terminus for East Anglia, with the Stansted Express airport service.

Is Liverpool Street step-free?

Yes for the Elizabeth and sub-surface lines (street to train). The Central line is reachable by lift via the Elizabeth line ticket hall, but the route is long.

What zone is Liverpool Street in?

Zone 1, for both Underground and National Rail.

How do I get to Stansted Airport?

Stansted Express from the mainline platforms — every 15 minutes, ~50 minutes to the airport. From the Tube, follow signs to "National Rail."

Where does the Elizabeth line terminate at Liverpool Street?

It doesn't — it runs straight through. West: Farringdon → Tottenham Court Road → Bond Street → Paddington → Heathrow / Reading. East: Whitechapel → Canary Wharf → Stratford → Shenfield / Abbey Wood.

Lines serving this station

Guides