Piccadilly Circus

Live status — lines serving Piccadilly Circus

Live departures from Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is one of the most famous addresses on the Underground — the stop for the illuminated billboards, the statue of Eros, the theatres of Shaftesbury Avenue and the bright lights of the West End. Two lines meet here, the Bakerloo and the Piccadilly, beneath one of London's landmark spaces: a celebrated circular ticket hall with no building above ground, entered entirely by subway stairs around the Circus. It draws far more visitors than its passenger numbers alone would suggest.

If Piccadilly Circus is closed

• Heading on the Piccadilly? Leicester Square is one stop east; Green Park is one stop west and is step-free.
• Heading on the Bakerloo? Oxford Circus is one stop north; Charing Cross is one stop south.
• Going to the theatres? Leicester Square and Tottenham Court Road both serve theatreland and Chinatown.
• Need step-free? Green Park (Piccadilly line, one stop west) is fully step-free.

About the station

Piccadilly Circus is the road junction where Regent Street, Piccadilly, Shaftesbury Avenue, Coventry Street and Haymarket meet — famous for its curved façade of illuminated advertising signs and the winged statue popularly known as Eros (properly the Angel of Christian Charity, atop the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain). The Underground station sits directly beneath it.

Its most distinctive feature is underground: a circular ticket hall, opened in 1928 to a design overseen by Charles Holden, ringed with shops and reached by stairs from subways at every corner of the Circus. There is no station building at street level at all — the entrances are simply stairways down from the pavements, which is part of what keeps the surface space so open.

Lines that serve Piccadilly Circus

• Bakerloo line — north to Oxford Circus, Baker Street, Paddington and out to Queen's Park, Wembley and Harrow & Wealdstone; south to Charing Cross, Waterloo, Lambeth North and Elephant & Castle.
• Piccadilly line — east to Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Holborn, King's Cross and beyond; west to Green Park, Hyde Park Corner, South Kensington and out to Heathrow.

Step-free access — none

Piccadilly Circus has no step-free access. Every route from the street subways down to the ticket hall and platforms uses stairs and escalators — there are no lifts. This is a common surprise given how central and busy the station is.

For step-free access nearby, use Green Park (Piccadilly line, one stop west), which is fully step-free. See the step-free Tube stations guide for planning an accessible journey through the West End.

Exits and what is nearby

• Subway 1 — Regent Street / Eros side. Closest to the Shaftesbury Memorial (Eros), the London Trocadero and Regent Street shopping.
• Subway towards Shaftesbury Avenue. For theatreland, the Criterion Theatre and the walk to Leicester Square and Chinatown.
• Haymarket / Coventry Street subways. Towards the Haymarket theatres, Leicester Square and Piccadilly itself.

A bit of history

The Bakerloo line platforms opened on 10 March 1906 and the Piccadilly line's on 15 December 1906. The station was originally entered through a surface building, but by the 1920s it could not cope with the crowds. The celebrated circular subterranean ticket hall — designed under Charles Holden with bronze and travertine finishes and a ring of shops — opened in 1928 and let the surface be cleared, giving Piccadilly Circus the open, canopy-free junction it has today. The hall remains one of the best-loved pieces of interwar Underground design.

Common quirks

• There is no station building. Look for the stair entrances in the pavement around the Circus, not a ticket hall at street level.
• Only the Piccadilly line runs on the Night Tube. The Bakerloo has no Night Tube service, so late on Fridays and Saturdays plan around the Piccadilly.
• It's a tourist crush, not a commuter one. Evenings and weekends are busiest, driven by theatres, sightseeing and the lights rather than the rush hour.
• Great for theatreland. The Criterion is on the Circus itself, and the Shaftesbury Avenue and Haymarket theatres are a short walk.

Frequently asked questions

Which lines serve Piccadilly Circus?

Two: the Bakerloo line and the Piccadilly line. They meet beneath the Circus in the station's famous circular ticket hall.

Is Piccadilly Circus step-free?

No. There is no step-free access — every route involves stairs and escalators. The nearest step-free station is Green Park, one stop west on the Piccadilly line.

What zone is Piccadilly Circus in?

Zone 1.

Where is the entrance to Piccadilly Circus station?

There is no surface building. Entrances are stairways down from the pavement subways at the corners of the Circus, leading to the circular ticket hall below.

Does the Night Tube stop at Piccadilly Circus?

Yes, but only on the Piccadilly line, which runs on Friday and Saturday nights. The Bakerloo line has no Night Tube service.

Lines serving this station

Guides