[title]
Ah, the Central line. Some of us have a complicated relationship with the London Underground’s longest route. On the one hand, you can’t argue with being able to get all the way from Epping to Ealing Broadway on a single train. On the other, the red line heats up like a furnace and isn’t a stranger to severe delays.
However, weekend overcrowding on the Central line could be set to improve thanks to a new timetable being introduced from Monday July 20. It will see more frequent services through Ccntral London on weekends between White City and Leytonstone, with additional trains also running on Sunday early evenings to help meet busy weekend demand.
The timetable’s biggest change for many passengers may be the boost to services through central London on weekdays. The Central will have up to 30 westbound trains an hour at morning peak times and 28 eastbound in the evenings. Meanwhile, trains on the West Ruislip branch have been revised to run eight times an hour, with no services terminating at Northolt.
The changes do mean fewer weekday trains on the Ealing Broadway branch, with services reduced from around eight to nine trains per hour to six. According to Transport for London (TfL), this is due to lower passenger demand since the Elizabeth line opened – which makes sense considering the Elizabeth and the Central line share five major interchange stations: Ealing Broadway, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Liverpool Street and Stratford.
TfL added that the change will also improve reliability across the rest of the Central line by making the timetable less prone to delays and reducing unplanned gaps between trains, particularly on the outer branches when services are disrupted.
London travel disruption this weekend: full list of tube and train closures for July 18-19 2026.
Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.