The journey from Charing Cross to Old Street is in fare zones 1&2 and you’ll have to use the Northern tube lines, changing trains at Kennington
- From Charing Cross take the Northern Line
- Change at Kennington to the Northern Line
- Leave the train at Old Street
Number of tube stops: 9 · Journey time: Approx 29 mins
Stations on the route: Charing Cross ➜ Embankment ➜ Waterloo ➜ Kennington [change train] Kennington ➜ Elephant & Castle ➜ Borough ➜ London Bridge ➜ Bank ➜ Moorgate ➜ Old Street
London Underground tube delays
Strikes and closures on the Northern
First and last train times on the Northern line
Tube times for the Northern line
Alternative routes include Charing Cross to Moorgate, Charing Cross to Shoreditch and Charing Cross to Angel
Stairs, lifts and escalators to the station platforms
Charing Cross station is not wheelchair accessible
Old Street station is not wheelchair accessible
Charing Cross station entrance – You must an escalator from the main railway station concourse to the booking hall (or three flights of 12, 12, 11 steps down), or two flights from the Trafalgar Square westside entrance (11 steps down +12 steps down), or three flights from the Trafalgar Square central island entrance (21 steps down +3 steps down +8 steps down), or four flights from the Trafalgar Square northside and eastside entrance (9 steps down +10 steps down +2x8 steps down), or three flights from the William IV Street entrance (16 steps down +13 steps down +14 steps down), or three flights from The Courtyard entrance (2x12 steps down +11 steps down), or two flights from the Strand southside entrance (21 steps down +16 steps down), or two flights from the Strand northside entrance (2x15 steps down), or two flights from the Villiers Street entrance (2x9 steps down). After that there’s an escalator plus one flight of 20 steps to the Bakerloo line platforms, or an escalator plus one flight of 19 steps to the Northern line platforms. If you want to avoid the escalator then you can use another five flights of stairs (4x17 steps down +8 steps down)
Changing tube line at Kennington – Changing between the northbound platform via Charing Cross, and the northbound platform via Bank, is on the level
Old Street station exit – You must an escalator (or seven flights of 6x15, 10, 9 steps) plus four flights of stairs from the platforms to the booking hall (17 steps up +18 steps up +15 steps up +16 steps up). After that you must use another flight of stairs to Old Street’s northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest exits (8 steps up), or two flights of stairs to the City Road exits (2x11 steps to the southwest exit, or 2x12 steps to the northwest, northeast and southeast exits)
The journey from Old Street to Charing Cross is in fare zone 1 and you’ll have to use the Northern tube lines, changing trains at Euston
- From Old Street take the Northern Line
- Leave the train at Charing Cross
Number of tube stops: 8 · Journey time: Approx 25 mins
Stations on the route: Old Street ➜ Angel ➜ King’s Cross St. Pancras ➜ Euston [change train] Euston ➜ Warren Street ➜ Goodge Street ➜ Tottenham Court Road ➜ Leicester Square ➜ Charing Cross
London Underground tube delays
Strikes and closures on the Northern
First and last train times on the Northern line
Tube times for the Northern line
Alternative routes include Old Street to Moorgate, Old Street to Shoreditch and Old Street to Angel
Stairs, lifts and escalators to the station platforms
Old Street train station is not wheelchair accessible
Charing Cross station is not wheelchair accessible
Old Street station entrance – You must use one flight of stairs between Old Street’s northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest entrances and the booking hall (8 steps down), or two flights of stairs from the City Road entrances (2x11 steps from the southwest entrance, or 2x12 steps from the northwest, northeast and southeast entrances). After that you must an escalator (or seven flights of 9, 10, 6x15 steps down) plus another four flights of stairs (16 steps down +15 steps down +18 steps down +17 steps down)
Changing tube line at Euston – Changing between the Northern northbond platform and the Victoria northbound platform is on the level. Changing between the Northern southbound platform via London Bridge, and the Victoria southbound platform, is also on the level. But you must use stairs for all other changes
Charing Cross station exit – You must use an escalator plus one flight of 20 steps from the Bakerloo line platforms and the booking hall, or an escalator plus one flight of 19 steps from the Northern line platforms. If you want to avoid the escalator then you can use another five flights of stairs (8 steps up + 4x17 steps up). After that must another escalator to the main railway station concourse exit (or three flights of 12, 12, 11 steps up), or two flights to the Trafalgar Square westside exit (11 steps up +12 steps up), or three flights to the Trafalgar Square central island exit (21 steps up +3 steps up +8 steps up), or four flights to the Trafalgar Square northside and eastside exits (9 steps up +10 steps up +2x8 steps up), or three flights to the William IV Street exit (16 steps up +13 steps up +14 steps up), or three flights to The Courtyard exit (2x12 steps up +11 steps up), or two flights to the Strand southside exit (21 steps up +16 steps up), or two flights to the Strand northside exit (2x15 steps up), or two flights to the Villiers Street exit (2x9 steps up)
Tube fare between London Charing Cross and Old Street
This tube journey is in Oyster zone 1. The cheapest fare is £2.70 off-peak (£2.80 peak) when you pay by Oyster or contactless. There’s no return fare, you just pay the same as two single tickets
| Fare zone | Cash | Oyster & Contactless cards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single fare | Single fare | Daily cap | |||
| Peak | Off-peak | Peak | Off-peak | ||
| Zone 1 fare | £6.70 | £2.80 | £2.70 | £8.50 | £8.50 |
| Fare Zone | Travelcards (Train, Bus & Tram) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One day travelcard | Week travelcard | Month travelcard | ||
| Anytime | Off-peak | |||
| Zone 1-2 travelcard | n/a | n/a | £42.70 | £164 |
| Zone 1-4 travelcard | £15.90 | n/a | £61.40 | £235.80 |
| Zone 1-6 travelcard | £22.60 | £15.90 | £78 | £299 |
| Zone 1-9 travelcard | £28.50 | £17 | £111.30 | £427.40 |
| See our complete list of Adult prices 2024, Senior prices 2024, Child prices 2024, Oyster prices 2024, Contactless prices 2024 and Travelcard prices 2024 Note: Tube journey prices are correct as of | ||||
Peak and off-peak journey times
For Oyster and contactless off-peak is outside the hours of 6.30 AM-9.30 AM and 4 PM-7 PM (Mon-Fri). For travelcards it’s any time after 9.30 AM (Mon-Fri). Weekends are always classed as off-peak. Note: Between the 8th March and 31st May 2024 TFL are running a trial called ‘Off-Peak Friday Fares’, where Fridays will be classed as off-peak all day.
The fare is based on what time your journey begins. It doesn’t matter what time your journey ends.
Other ways to make this journey
Travel on foot – The distance is about 2¼ miles, which would take around 42-46 minutes
Travel by bus – Single fare: £1.75 (you may need more than one bus); Daily cap: £5.25; Weekly cap: £24.70; 1-day travelcard: £6; Weekly travelcard: £24.70 – Adult bus tickets · Pensioner bus tickets · Children’s bus tickets
Travel by taxi – A 2¼ mile journey between Old Street underground station and Charing Cross in a black taxi should cost approximately £10.60 to £18.20 and take 11-22 mins
Travel by car – Car parks near Charing Cross station and Old Street