Historical version 8 of Category Central Line (view current version)

The Central Line is very, very long. It spans all six zones in both directions (and is the only line to do so); its most westerly terminus, West Ruislip Station, lies in zone 6, as does its most easterly terminus, Epping Station. These two stations are 40km (26 miles) apart as the crow flies, and 55km (34 miles) along the tracks.

One aspect of interest is the Hainault Loop - thirteen stations, all in zone 4 near the Epping end, which form a closed circle. Unfortunately it's not possible to travel around them all in a never-ending loop; trains running on the loop generally enter it at Wanstead, just after Leytonstone, continue around to Woodford or Hainault, and then reverse. Note that this is why you often hear announcements that a train is for "Woodford via Hainault", or "Hainault via Newbury Park". The track on the Hainault Loop between Wanstead and Roding Valley is known as "inner rail" (Wanstead to Roding Valley direction) and "outer rail" (other direction) rather than eastbound, westbound, etc.

See also:

Auto-generated list of all Central Line stations on this guide (view them on a map):

This is version 8 (as of 2013-03-10 11:08:42). View current version. List all versions.