On Sunday 13 April, Transport for London will keep the capital running during the Flora London Marathon.

TfL is providing free travel for all runners and officials on the Tube and Docklands Light Railway until 5pm (by showing an official Marathon tabard or race number).

Some diversions and roads closures will be in place for a short time to allow the race to pass through.

An easy-to-use leaflet has been produced by TfL to help spectators follow the race and find the best viewpoints.

These leaflets are available at all London Underground stations and can be downloaded from the TfL website at: tfl.gov.uk 

London Buses


Start times vary by route but across south-east London, central London and the Isle of Dogs, diversions will begin to take effect from 6.30am on the following bus routes:

Routes: 1, 3, 11, 12, 24, 25, 29, 42, 47, 51, 53, 54, 78, 87, 88, 89, 91, 96, 99, 100, 108, 115, 122, 148, 159, 161, 177, 178, 180, 188, 199, 202, 211, 225, 244, 277, 286, 291, 341, 343, 344, 380, 381, 422, 453, 469, 472, 486, C10, D6, D8, ELW, P12 and RV1.

Diversions on roads south of Tower Bridge are expected to finish by 1pm; diversions north of Tower Bridge should finish by 7pm.

Route 15 and the Heritage route 15 will not serve the Tower of London in either direction between 8am and 5pm.

Routes 129, 386, D3 and D7 will not operate from 8am until local roads are re-opened, while Route ELC will not operate between 8am and 12 midday. Passengers wishing to travel on these buses should find an alternative route.

Docklands Light Railway


A modified timetable will operate throughout the weekend with services on Sunday beginning at 5.30am from Tower Gateway.

Services during the London Marathon will operate as frequently as every 2.5 minutes on the busiest sections of routes.

From 7.30pm, a normal Sunday service will operate until closedown at around 11.30pm.

Nearest stations for spectators:


Spectators can choose from eight DLR stations to get an ideal vantage point near to the marathon route: Tower Gateway, Limehouse, Westferry, Canary Wharf, Heron Quays, South Quay, Crossharbour and Greenwich.

Due to restoration work on the Cutty Sark, access to this area will be severely limited this year and Cutty Sark station may have to be closed from time to time to moderate crowd numbers.

Greenwich Foot Tunnel will be closed southbound from Isle of Dogs to Greenwich from 10am until 12 midday.

Road closures

The route and approach roads in Greenwich and Woolwich area, as well as Thames Street, Victoria Embankment and Westminster Bridge will be from 7am.

Southwark, Tower Bridge, Isle of Dogs and Shadwell will close from 8am.

There is a staged road-reopening programme starting from approximately 11am and it is scheduled that the route will be fully re-opened by 7pm.

London Underground/Overground

Some track improvement work is planned on the network during Marathon weekend, which may affect your journey.

On the Jubilee line, Queensbury station will be closed for station refurbishment works.

Customers are advised to travel via Kingsbury or use local buses.

On the Central line, Shepherd's Bush station is closed for modernisation work.

Customers are advised to travel via White City or Holland Park.

The Bakerloo line will be part suspended between Harrow and Wealdstone and Paddington.

See tfl.gov.uk for replacement bus services.

Planned closures will also affect London Overground services between Euston and Willesden Junction.

A replacement bus service will call at all affected stations.

Four Jubilee line stations are very close to the route for spectators: Canada Water, Canary Wharf, London Bridge and Bermondsey.

River Services

To see more of the race, board a river bus at Greenwich to Canary Wharf, Tower Millennium, London Bridge City or Embankment Piers.

Timetables are available at LondonU Stations, TfL piers or online.

Cycling and walking


Cycling and walking are great ways to get around London. Plan your journey to the Marathon by bike or by foot by visiting Journey Planner.


Notes to editors:

  • For 24-hour information on public transport in London, please call: 020 7222 1234
  • TfL's realtime pages, that display live travel information on London's public transport network: tfl.gov.uk/realtime
  • To plan your journey on the web: tfl.gov.uk/journeyplanner
  • Travel alerts via SMS and email can be set up at: tfl.gov.uk/alerts
  • The course for the London Marathon is 26.2 miles long; the same distance as travelling from Brixton to Walthamstow Central  and back on the Victoria line, or just under two laps of the Circle line
  • In 2007, just under 36,400 runners competed in the London Marathon, the equivalent to the passenger capacity of 405 double-decker buses