Piccadilly Line

The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground and is the fourth busiest line on the Underground network on the basis of the number of passengers transported per year as advises by TfL. It is mainly a deep-​level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with a number of surface sections, mostly in its westernmost parts. Of the 53 stations served, 25 are below ground. Some of its stations are shared with the District line and some are shared with the Metropolitan line.
It is the second longest line on the system, after the Central line, and has the second most stations, after the District line. It serves many of London’s top tourist attractions including Harrods, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Covent Garden, as well as terminals 1,2&3, 4 & 5 at Heathrow Airport

A great way of getting around the main attractions in London or just in general day use, but for me its handy to get from Kings Cross right though to Heathrow Airport, it does get really busy though at the main stations, It takes around 50 minutes to an hour from Kings Cross. Plus its much cheaper than the Heathrow Express!!!

Due to a public transit worker strike, the cheaper Heathrow Connect train wasn’t available when we needed it, and the more expensive Heathrow Express was only running every thirty minutes. A quick search of the Tube map turned up a £3 fare on the early morning Piccadilly line, saving us £18 each! We didn’t have much luggage, and it wasn’t terribly crowded at 6 AM. The ride to Heathrow was just about an hour long. We were going to Terminal 5, and there’s a weird up-​to-​eight-​minute-​stop at the Terminal 1−2−3 stop, but otherwise, no complaints about the service for the price!
So glad we didn’t spend the £21 on the Heathrow Express!

Ich werde diese Linie für alle U Bahn Linien in London bewerten. Am besten wenn man in London die Öffis benutzen will kauft man gleich am Flughafen die Oyster Card. Auf diese Karte ladet man dann die Pfund drauf die man in etwa benötigt.ich sag’s gleich, öffentlich fahren ist in London nicht billig. Am ersten Tag sind sind wir schon 20 Pfund verfahren -:)))
Man muss sich bei jeder Station ein und auschecken, danach wird der Fahrpreis von der Karte abgebucht .
Bei Unilocal muss man nur einchecken -:)))))
Die U Bahnen sind sehr alt, auch in den Stationen hat man sehr weite Fußwege die man bewältigen muss. Auch die Garnituren sind schon in die Jahre gekommen, aber London hat das erste U Bahnnetz gebaut .
Ich habe mich wieder auf die Wiener Linien gefreut …

smooth little system. nice trains. wish the trains in New York were like this. turnstiles work flawlessly. passageways are relatively clean. you can move freely thru all the cars on a train. a single ride is relatively expensive.

I would like the Piccadilly line more, and when I used it, it was pretty useful, but for some reason it is often closed for maintenance.
Being not a London local, I was really relying on trains, train stations, and other public transportation to stop where I needed to go so that I could make the most use of my few days there. The piccadilly line was great for this because it’s literally the line made for tourists like me! It is useful in getting from Heathrow and London itself, as well as stopping at all the stations you’d want to check out such as shopping, museums, and covent garden. I found myself in Covent Garden several times and was easy to find my way to anywhere else from there.
The line was also very frequent, and I never waited too long for the next train if I came upon an empty station. I like that the trains are generally well kept, and the stations are clean. Big fan!

In my four months in London this year, the Piccadilly Line proved to be by far the most consistent line in the Underground circuit.
Almost never late or with mysterious gaps in service, I could always rely on it to get me where I needed to go. This was often to the Holloway Road stop, which is the home of London Metropolitan University (city campus), the Russell Square stop (home to University of London at Birkbeck) and to Heathrow.
Heathrow International Airport terminals 1 through 5 are the last stops on the train. if you are going to terminals 1, 2, or 3, they are all at one stop. There are two different Heathrow trains. One that goes to ½/​3 and then 5, and another that first stops at 4 and then loops back around to ½/​3, now headed towards Cockfosters. Due to the loop and such, it is faster to get to ½/​3 using the one that also goes 5, not 4.
The Piccadilly line, perhaps more than most others, goes quite far outside of central London. It can take you to the suburbs and some pretty far-​out areas. You can get to Uxbridge or Hounslow or Osterly on this line — pretty distant. Therefore it is great for commuters.
The Piccadilly Line also stops in some extremely busy and popular London areas. Stops such as Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Covent Gardens are tourist centers as well as huge shopping and dining areas. It also, like many other lines, runs through Kings Cross so you can transfer to nearly any other line easily.
Overall, loved the Piccadilly Line, always in my heart!

Oh Piccadilly Line,
With your colour royal blue,
Although we have our moments,
I’m devoted unto you.
For although I love old Vicky Line,
And her blue is so much brighter,
I travel your route every day,
So our bond is simply tighter!
Finsbury Park’s a handy stop,
And a quick link over to Vicky,
But of a weekend she’s often not working,
And so routes then start to get tricky.
But there you are so humble and kind,
Passing through Kings Cross,
And from here there are links to many-​a-​line,
So you show the rest who’s boss!
Further on it starts to get fun,
With Covent Garden and Leicester Square,
I know they’re tourist hotspots but,
They’re iconic so I don’t care.
Piccadilly Circus and its screens so bright,
Always lighting up the dark,
Then the route gets a little more classy,
With a quick stop at Green Park.
Knightsbridge and South Ken,
Earls Court and Acton Town,
From there your paths they split,
One must choose the up or down.
The up leads on to Uxbridge,
The down onto Heathrow,
But we’re already in London so,
Where on earth would we want to go?
I guess what I’m trying to say, Mr Pic,
With your colour royal blue,
Your route holds a special place in my heart,
And I’m sorry I don’t often tell you!

I’m only saying A-​ok because it’s a really convenient line, it’s heathrow bound, harrods bound, museum bound, but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SO MANY SCHOOL CHILDREN for the Museums. AVOID at all costs during Half term and school holidays. (That’s mid Oct, mid Feb)
It’s almost ALWAYS packed, (although strangely free at 1pm-​2pm), I have no clue at how the olympic tourists are going to deal. I’m locking myself away in mid august in fear of this inevitable.

Hmmmm planes, trains and cruise ships…
This being a train of sorts. it got me from downtown London all the way back to my hotel at the airport…
Mind you it took me 30 odd stops to get there so if you are in a rush this is not the method for you. However you wont get nearly the same experience of running into all manners of Brits from the comfort of your subway seat as you would anywhere else.
–_​–

The dark blue line.
aka The touristy line.
It’s good that at least the Underground serves Heathrow.
This is one of the cheapest ways into town (a bus can be confusing) and it goes to all the major places where you can change lines or walk.
This lines seems to go all over the place, covering northwest and southwest, central and northeast at the oft mentioned Cockfosters. lol
I took it a few times to get up to Uxbridge when time wasn’t of the essence.
The train looked puny next to the Met. line trains!

Decent service running from Heathrow to, uh, Cockfosters. I know, I’m older than middle school, but it still amuses me to hear it repeated. Helpfully, the cars have a designated area for luggage storage. Just don’t let your own luggage get out of your sight.
The Piccadilly line splits at Acton Town, heading to the North for Uxbridge and slightly more South for Heathrow, which also splits at Hatton Cross with one line going to terminals 1−2−3 and then 5, and the other going to terminal 4 before returning to 1−2−3. This can be a bit confusing for the tourists who might have some trouble with English, let alone the mumbled version of the train drivers.
In addition to Heathrow, the line also stops at King’s Cross /​St. Pancras for the Eurostar train to Paris. This makes it the most «touristy» of the Tube lines, so expect people to ask where «Lie-​chest-​er» Square is (it’s «less-​tuh»!).
This is a very long tube line, completely crossing from the northeast of London to the west/​southwest. It takes about an hour and a half to go from one end to the other. Still, it’s extremely useful even as the cars fill to the brim between Holborn and Earl’s Court and again from Hammersmith to Heathrow.

Coming from Chicago, I didn’t really know what to expect of the London Underground. I only made it onto the Piccadilly line, but I rode almost the entire thing. I can honestly say without a doubt that this is a fantastic subway line.
But more importantly, it terminates at Cockfosters. Hearing the announcer say Cockfosters is next is worth buying the zone 4 ticket for. Seriously.
I’m knocking a star off because of the Covent Garden station staircase. That thing is long, long, long. 193 steps, I think I read somewhere… To get to the top, and by the time you get there, you have to push past dozens of panting people who also didn’t realize the staircase was a week’s worth of cardio workout. It’s supposedly for emergencies only, but when the station’s crowded, they just send people up there like it’s no big deal to walk up almost 200 stairs.
Cockfosters is next. Please mind the gap. What a fantastic subway system.

Since I was staying at Royal National Hotel, I took the Piccadilly Line at Russell Square each day. I was using a one day travelcard ticket. The travelcard ticket is nicely designed because it’s pink, so it’s highly visible and it’s slightly larger than a credit card. Insert the card, and you have access to the Piccadilly Line.
On the line, there’s an announcer telling people to wait until passengers leave the train before boarding. Also, they always say «Mind the GAP!», because they don’t want you to trip and fall. The Piccadilly Line itself is fast, reliable, and it’s all about speed!!! and safety.

If you fly into Heathrow, and decide that taking a cab into Central London is too expensive (which it really is), then odds are you’ll either be taking the Heathrow Express or the Piccadilly Line straight into the City. That’s what I always did. And for a couple of really good reasons:
1) One of the cheapest options when you’re a poor post grad student… or poor young professional working to pay off your post grad degree
2) Its actually not a bad way to unwind after a flight. Grab a seat, sit back, and watch the scenery until you go underground. That’s when you know you’d better be getting all your suitcases in order.
I also used it a lot when I was moving from N4 to W11. It was a quick way to cross the city and make my connections.
**Word of warning on the Heathrow part though — as easy as it is to get into the city from Heathrow, getting to Heathrow from anywhere in the city is a lot more crowded, delay ridden, and stressful. Just take the Heathrow Express

Dark blue line? It looked purple to me on the map. :) No matter, this was the Underground line that I frequented while the Mister and I were in London since our hotel was on this line.
I love using the Underground in London. The stops are very convenient and easy to understand and find… not like the Metro in Paris. You want to go to Westminster Abbey, get off at Westminster, you want to go to Piccadilly Circus, get off at Piccadilly. So why the 3 stars? Well, this Piccadilly line gets hella crowded with not just tourists, but locals use it too to get to work. If it’s a morning on a weekday, good luck getting on the train! Many times we had to wait for the next train or squeeze into the car, where some riders don’t believe in the use of deodorant and to make matters worse, to be green, they shut off the AC. It was a constant struggle to keep from dozing off on our way back from a long day of sightseeing since it was so hot and crowded on the tube. It would just zap our energy. Boo!
I also finally figured out what Mind the Gap meant when I almost fell into the huge gap between the train and the platform. Whoa nelly!

It’s the dark blue line on the London Underground map but I call it the tourist line.
It goes to Heathrow Airport and is currently the cheapest way to get into Central London from the airport. Rumour has it that they will try to keep the line running at all costs due to the airport connection
It stops at stations like Knightsbridge for Harrods /​Harvery Nicks, South Kensington for the museums, Leicester Square for Chinatown, Covent Garden, etc. Most tourists will find themselves at a Piccadilly Line station at some point during their stay
It connects to Kings Cross /​St Pancras station, an important train station to travel up north or to catch the Eurostar to Paris /​Brussels.
It amuses visitors to read Cockfosters (I’m not naming any names, I would hate to embarrass my friend Laura N!)

No matter how fast, how clean, how punctual, how convenient, how reliable, how central, how historic, how touristy, how utterly fabulous the Piccadilly Line may in fact be, all I can think to write about is how funny it is when the posh tube announcer lady says Cockfosters.
Then I heard about the Cockfosters extension.
…and I’m a 12 year old boy.

Ah the Piccadilly Line, yes this is one of my usual routes and it’s never let me down.
A little word about the tube in general: I usually avoid public transit when I’m in a new city in favour of walking or taking a cab. I have over the years realized that I’m a freak magnet. I absolutely can’t get onto a bus anywhere without the one crazy person coming over and putting their arm around me. Then there’s the shoving and sharing of germs (ick). That said I will take the tube. Believe it or not, it’s safer than the buses. I was attacked on a double decker bus by a gang of girls last time I was in London and no one did a thing. I’ll never take one of those again.
During the day no one talks or makes eye contact and the cars aren’t full of people escaped for mental institutions (like the Vancouver sky train) because you have to be with-​it enough to purchase tickets and go through turnstyles. At night the cars fill up with drunks who are more confrontational. I usually cab at night unless I’m with a guy.

Love for the tubes, who would have guessed! If only the rest of the large cities in the world could get it down like this.
«Mind the Gap» …need I say more? Even the phrase is efficient! lol!

My favourite tube line is the Piccadilly. It is always fast, reliable and frequent and has a use for everyone.
If you want to party it hits some of zone ones most celebrated hotspots like Covent Garden and Leicester Square. For shopping it stops at Knightsbridge (Harrods) and Piccadilly Circus for Regent Street. As an added extra for holidaymakers, the Piccadilly Line takes you directly to the Heathrow terminals.
So reliable and quick, the Piccadilly line is London’s best tube.