Crouch End has no station of its own. The nearest is Hornsey, 13 minutes' walk, and its trains run to Moorgate in 20 minutes. Times, fares and the cheaper way in.
Crouch End has no station. It had one, on the line from Finsbury Park up to Alexandra Palace, and the trackbed is now the Parkland Walk, London’s longest local nature reserve. Everybody who lives here has to start a journey by walking or catching a bus to somebody else’s station, and which one you pick changes both how long you sit on public transport and how much you pay for the year.
This page sets out the eight stations within reach of the Broadway, what each of them actually connects to, and the fare arithmetic that most people here get wrong.
The nearest station is Hornsey, and its trains go to Moorgate
Walk down Tottenham Lane and you reach Hornsey station in about 13 minutes, which is the shortest walk to any station from Crouch End Broadway on TfL’s own journey planner. It is in Zone 3 and it is run by Great Northern.
The thing to know about Hornsey is where its trains go. They do not run to King’s Cross. They run down the Northern City Line to Moorgate, in 20 minutes, calling at Harringay, Finsbury Park, Drayton Park, Highbury and Islington, Essex Road and Old Street on the way. If your office is in the City, that is close to ideal. If you need King’s Cross or St Pancras, you change at Finsbury Park onto the Victoria line, and the whole thing takes about 24 minutes.
Frequency is better than people expect. Four trains an hour all day, seven days a week, and more in the morning peak: on a Tuesday in August, departures from Hornsey ran at 08:02, 08:12, 08:20, 08:33 and 08:41. The first through train to Moorgate leaves at 05:33 and the last at 00:18.
Harringay is on the same line one stop closer in, 18 minutes to Moorgate, and the W5 bus gets you there from the Broadway in about 9 minutes, which for most of Crouch End is quicker than walking to Hornsey. Alexandra Palace is the stop the other way, 22 minutes to Moorgate.
The eight stations you can reach, and what they are for
| Station | Zone | Line | From the Broadway | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hornsey | 3 | Great Northern | 13 min walk | Moorgate, Old Street, the City |
| Harringay | 3 | Great Northern | 9 min on the W5 | The same line, two minutes quicker |
| Turnpike Lane | 3 | Piccadilly | 13 min on the 41 | King's Cross, Holborn, the West End |
| Alexandra Palace | 3 | Great Northern | 13 min on the 91 | Moorgate from the Muswell Hill side |
| Archway | 2/3 | Northern | 15 min on the 41 | Tottenham Court Road, Zone 2 fares |
| Crouch Hill | 3 | Suffragette (London Overground) | 17 min walk | Gospel Oak, Blackhorse Road, Barking |
| Finsbury Park | 2 | Victoria, Piccadilly, Great Northern | 19 min on the W7 | Almost everything, and Zone 2 fares |
| Highgate | 3 | Northern | 26 min walk | Only if you live at the top of the hill |
Two entries in that table deserve a second look.
Highgate is the one people assume is theirs because it is the nearest tube station on a map. From Crouch End Broadway it is 26 minutes on foot up Shepherd’s Hill and there is no bus from the Broadway that serves it. The 41 and the W5 both run to Archway instead, and Archway is on the same Northern line, 15 minutes away, and charges a Zone 2 fare rather than a Zone 3 one.
Crouch Hill is the station named after the place, but it is on the Suffragette line, which runs east to west across north London: Gospel Oak one way, Blackhorse Road, Walthamstow and eventually Barking Riverside the other. It is genuinely useful for Hampstead Heath, Walthamstow and the Victoria line at Blackhorse Road. It does not take you into central London.
How long it actually takes, door to door
These are TfL journey planner results from Crouch End Broadway at 08:00 on a weekday, including the walk and the wait:
- King’s Cross St Pancras: 29 minutes, on the W7 to Finsbury Park then the Victoria line.
- Moorgate: 35 minutes, on the W5 to Harringay then Great Northern.
- Oxford Circus: 35 minutes, W7 to Finsbury Park then the Victoria line.
- Bank: 39 minutes, W5 to Harringay, Great Northern to Moorgate, one stop on the Northern line.
- Victoria: 39 minutes, W7 to Finsbury Park then the Victoria line.
The pattern is consistent and slightly deflating for anyone who moved here for the walk to Hornsey: the fastest way into central London from Crouch End is a bus to somebody else’s interchange, either Finsbury Park or Harringay. Walking to Hornsey and taking the train to Moorgate came out at 37 minutes, two minutes slower than the bus to Harringay on the same line.
Both of those buses are on diversion at the time of writing. The W7 is not serving Crouch Hill until 2 November while Thames Water replaces the mains, and the W5 misses its Ridge Road stops until 24 August, so add a few minutes to the figures above. The detail is in our guide to Crouch End roadworks and travel.
What it costs, and the £312 nobody claims
Fares here fall into three tiers, and the tier is set by the station rather than by the distance. These are adult pay as you go singles to Zone 1, from TfL’s own single fare finder:
| From | Peak | Off-peak |
|---|---|---|
| Finsbury Park or Archway (Zone 2) | £3.60 | £3.10 |
| Highgate, Turnpike Lane, Wood Green (Zone 3, Tube) | £3.90 | £3.30 |
| Hornsey, Harringay, Alexandra Palace (Zone 3, National Rail) | £4.60 | £3.70 |
Note the third row against the second. Hornsey and Highgate are both in Zone 3 and both about the same distance from the Broadway, but the National Rail fare is 70p more in the peak and 40p more off-peak than the Tube fare for the same zones. Over a five-day commuting week that is £7, and over 46 commuting weeks about £322.
The larger number is the Travelcard one. A Travelcard is valid on all London buses regardless of the zones printed on it, in TfL’s words: “You can use Travelcards on all buses.” Crouch End has no station of its own, so a commuter here can get to a Zone 2 station by bus and buy the Zone 1-2 card:
| Zones | Daily cap | 7 day | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zones 1-2 (Finsbury Park, Archway) | £8.90 | £44.70 | £171.70 | £1,788 |
| Zones 1-3 (Hornsey, Highgate, Turnpike Lane) | £10.50 | £52.50 | £201.60 | £2,100 |
| Difference | £1.60 | £7.80 | £29.90 | £312 |
£312 a year is the price of the convenience of walking to Hornsey rather than catching the 41 to Archway or the W7 to Finsbury Park. It is a real choice with a real number attached, and it is the single most useful thing on this page.
Two caveats before anyone cancels their Zone 3 card. A Zone 1-2 Travelcard does not cover Hornsey, Harringay, Crouch Hill, Turnpike Lane, Highgate or Alexandra Palace at all, so a weekend trip out of any of them is an extra fare. And a Zone 1-2 Travelcard is not valid on trams, which need Zone 3 or beyond, though that is academic this far north.
If you pay as you go instead, a single bus journey is £1.75, with TfL’s Hopper fare giving unlimited further bus journeys within an hour for the same £1.75. Bus and rail journeys count towards one daily cap, set by the zones your rail travel covered: so a bus to Finsbury Park plus Zone 1-2 rail caps at £8.90 a day, while Hornsey to Zone 1 and back comes to £9.20 without reaching its £10.50 Zone 1-3 cap.
Which station should you use?
- Working in the City, near Moorgate, Old Street or Liverpool Street: Hornsey or Harringay. The Great Northern line delivers you straight there and the change-free journey is worth the higher fare.
- Working in the West End or around King’s Cross: the W7 to Finsbury Park. Fastest and cheapest, and it puts the Victoria, Piccadilly and Great Northern lines all in one place.
- Working anywhere on the Northern line: the 41 to Archway, not the walk to Highgate. Same line, Zone 2 fare, and about eleven minutes saved.
- Going to Hampstead Heath, Walthamstow or Barking: Crouch Hill, and nothing else comes close.
- Buying an annual Travelcard: commit to the bus-first habit and buy Zones 1-2.
Frequently asked questions
Does Crouch End have a train station?
No. The nearest is Hornsey, about 13 minutes’ walk from Crouch End Broadway. Crouch End’s own station, on the line between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace, closed to passengers in 1954, and the route is now the Parkland Walk nature reserve.
How long does it take to get from Crouch End to central London?
About 29 minutes to King’s Cross and 35 minutes to Moorgate or Oxford Circus, door to door at 08:00 on a weekday, including the walk to the bus stop and the wait. Bank and Victoria are around 39 minutes.
Do trains from Hornsey go to King’s Cross?
Not directly. Great Northern services from Hornsey run to Moorgate, calling at Harringay, Finsbury Park, Drayton Park, Highbury and Islington, Essex Road and Old Street. For King’s Cross, change at Finsbury Park onto the Victoria line, which takes about 24 minutes in total.
How often do trains run from Hornsey?
Four an hour all day, seven days a week, rising to five or six in the morning peak. The journey to Moorgate is 20 minutes. The first through train leaves at 05:33 and the last at 00:18.
What is the cheapest way to commute from Crouch End?
Take a bus to a Zone 2 station. Archway on the 41, or Finsbury Park on the W7, both charge £3.60 peak to Zone 1 against £4.60 from Hornsey. On a Travelcard the gap is £312 a year between the Zone 1-2 and Zone 1-3 annual prices, and a Travelcard covers all London buses whatever zones it names.
Which zone is Crouch End in?
Crouch End itself has no station, so it has no zone. The stations around it are in Zone 3, except Finsbury Park (Zone 2) and Archway (on the Zone 2 and 3 boundary, charged as Zone 2).
Related
- Crouch End house prices: what the borough’s homes sell for, postcode sector by postcode sector, and why a house costs a million pounds more than a flat on the same street.
- Crouch End roadworks, parking and travel: if you are driving rather than commuting.
- Things to do in Crouch End, including the Parkland Walk that used to be the railway.
Sources
- TfL journey planner for door-to-door and walking times from Crouch End Broadway, queried for 08:00 on a weekday.
- TfL single fare finder for the peak and off-peak pay as you go singles from each station to Zone 1.
- TfL adult caps and Travelcard prices for the daily caps, 7 day, monthly and annual Travelcard prices.
- TfL bus and tram fares for the £1.75 single and the Hopper fare, and TfL Travelcards for bus and tram validity.
- TfL fare capping for how bus and rail journeys share a daily cap.
- traintimes.org.uk for Great Northern departure times, frequencies and journey times from Hornsey, Harringay and Alexandra Palace, checked for a weekday, a Saturday and a Sunday in August 2026.
- Haringey Council, Parkland Walk nature reserve for the old railway route, and Crouch End railway station for the 1954 closure.
Fares and timetables change. Check the operator before you travel, and check your own statement before assuming a cap.
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