Ealing Train Times to London: 10 Mins, £3.90 Peak

Ealing is not a commuter town with one station and one line. The borough has more than twenty rail and Underground stations spread across five different services, and which one you live near changes both how long you sit on a train and what you pay for the privilege. Ealing Broadway to Paddington takes ten minutes. Northolt to Oxford Circus takes twenty-nine. Both are in the same borough.

This page gives the fastest scheduled journey from each of the main stations, the fare zone, and the adult pay as you go price, all taken from Transport for London’s own journey planner and single fare finder in August 2026. Nothing here is a season ticket from a mainline operator, because Ealing does not work that way: every station in the borough sits inside the TfL zones, so the money question is caps and Travelcards, not annual seasons.

The fastest run from each station

Acton Main Line reaches Paddington in eight minutes. It is the quickest run into London from anywhere in the borough, and at Zone 3 it costs the same £3.90 peak single as Ealing Broadway. Ealing Broadway itself is ten minutes to Paddington. West Ealing is thirteen. Hanwell is fifteen and Southall eighteen, both from Zone 4 at £4.80 peak.

The Central line stations tell a different story. Perivale is twenty-five minutes to Oxford Circus, Greenford twenty-seven and Northolt twenty-nine, and Northolt is Zone 5, so its peak single is £5.30. Hanger Lane is twenty-three minutes and North Acton twenty, both closer in. The trade is the usual one: the Central line takes longer but drops you in the middle of the West End without a change, while the Elizabeth line is faster but starts at Paddington.

Where the Elizabeth line actually gets you

Ealing Broadway is on the Elizabeth line’s western branch, which means a single train to most of the places people commute to. These are the fastest scheduled times from an 08:00 weekday departure.

Twenty-two minutes to Heathrow Terminal 5 is the number most Ealing residents underuse. The fare is £9.90 peak or £9.00 off-peak from Ealing Broadway, and £9.70 peak or £8.90 off-peak from Southall. Heathrow sits outside the normal zone fares, which is why those singles are so much higher than a trip into town.

Zones and fares, station by station

Fares below are adult pay as you go with a contactless card or Oyster, taken from TfL’s single fare finder. The current fares run to 4 July 2027.

Two things fall out of that table. First, the Zone 3 stations all pay the same £3.90, whether you are eight minutes from Paddington at Acton Main Line or twenty-three minutes from Oxford Circus at Hanger Lane. Second, the off-peak discount is much bigger further out: a Zone 5 journey from Northolt drops from £5.30 to £3.80 off-peak, a saving of £1.50, while a Zone 3 journey only falls 60p.

Northolt Park is worth a separate mention. It is a Chiltern Railways station, not a Tube one, and it reaches Marylebone in seventeen minutes, faster than any Central line journey from that part of the borough. The peak single is £5.30, the same as the Tube from Northolt.

What it costs over a week and a month

Single fares are not what most commuters actually pay, because the daily and weekly caps do the work. These are TfL’s adult figures, and they are frozen at these levels until March 2027.

A five-day commuter from Ealing Broadway or Acton Main Line hits the Zones 1 to 3 weekly cap at £52.50, which is £2,100 a year if you travel every week. The same pattern from Southall or Greenford costs £64.20 a week, and from Northolt £76.40. The gap between living in Zone 3 and Zone 5 in the same borough is therefore about £956 a year on the annual Travelcard, before you count the extra twenty minutes a day.

If you work three days a week, do not buy a Travelcard. Three days of Zone 1 to 3 capped travel is £31.50 against £52.50 for the weekly, so contactless pay as you go wins until you are travelling four days or more.

The lines that do not go to Zone 1

Two Ealing services are worth knowing about even though neither reaches central London directly.

The Greenford branch runs from Greenford to West Ealing in eleven minutes, calling at South Greenford, Castle Bar Park and Drayton Green. It is a Great Western Railway shuttle, it costs £2.50 peak or £2.30 off-peak, and it is the quickest way to get from the Greenford and Perivale side of the borough onto the Elizabeth line without going round by the Central line.

The London Overground calls at Acton Central and South Acton, both Zone 3, on the line between Richmond and Stratford. Neither goes into Zone 1, but both are useful for crossing west London without changing in the middle.

What it means for you

If you are choosing where to live in the borough, the Elizabeth line stations are the ones priced into the housing market. Walpole and Northfield wards, between Ealing Broadway and West Ealing, have the two highest ward medians in the borough, while Greenford Broadway and Northolt West End have the two lowest. That is not a coincidence.

If you are commuting daily, work out your zone band first and then check whether the weekly cap or a Travelcard is cheaper for your pattern. Zone 3 to Zone 1 at £52.50 a week is the cheapest commute available from anywhere in Ealing.

If you are driving to a station instead, check the current roadworks first, because several of the approach roads to Ealing Broadway and Southall are dug up into the autumn.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to get from Ealing to central London?

Ten minutes from Ealing Broadway to Paddington on the Elizabeth line, fourteen to Bond Street and twenty-one to Liverpool Street, all without changing. From the Central line stations it is longer: twenty-five minutes from Perivale, twenty-seven from Greenford and twenty-nine from Northolt to Oxford Circus.

What zone is Ealing in?

Most of the borough is Zone 3 or Zone 4. Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Acton Main Line, South Ealing, Acton Town and Hanger Lane are Zone 3. Hanwell, Southall, Perivale and Greenford are Zone 4. Northolt and Northolt Park are Zone 5.

How much is a train from Ealing to London?

£3.90 peak or £3.30 off-peak from any Zone 3 station in the borough into Zone 1. From Zone 4 it is £4.80 peak and £3.60 off-peak, and from Northolt in Zone 5, £5.30 and £3.80.

What is the cheapest way to commute from Ealing?

Contactless or Oyster pay as you go, letting the caps do the work. The Zones 1 to 3 weekly cap is £52.50 and the daily cap £10.50. Only buy a Travelcard if you travel four days a week or more.

How long is Ealing Broadway to Heathrow?

Twenty-two minutes to Terminal 5 on the Elizabeth line, with no change. The adult single is £9.90 peak and £9.00 off-peak, because Heathrow sits outside the standard zone fares.

Which Ealing station is fastest into London?

Acton Main Line, at eight minutes to Paddington, and it is charged as Zone 3 like Ealing Broadway.

Sources

• Transport for London journey planner for every journey time on this page, taken from an 08:00 weekday departure.
• TfL single fare finder for the adult peak and off-peak singles, valid to 4 July 2027.
• TfL adult fares table for the daily caps, weekly caps and Travelcard prices.
• TfL station information for lines and fare zones at each station.

Journey times are the fastest scheduled runs and do not allow for delays. Check the live status before you travel, and confirm any fare against TfL before relying on it.