Dream of travelling to a bygone London? This May you can do just that, thanks to a series of heritage rides on a 1938 Tube train.
The burgundy-hued art deco style stock — consisting of four carriages, and replete with wooden frames windows, sleek light fittings, and a sumptuous red and green cut and loop wool moquette — is running on sections of the Piccadilly line across the early May bank holiday.
The journeys take place between Northfields and the Heathrow Loop (Saturday 2 May 2026), Cockfosters to Northfields (Sunday 3 and Monday 4 May 2026) and Northfields to Cockfosters (also Sunday 3 and Monday 4 May 2026). There are multiple trips on each day, each with a time slot.
Though you can't reserve individual seats, carriages are divvied into 'Gold', 'Silver' and 'Bronze'. (Fitting, if coincidental, given that early London Underground trains were indeed split into classes.)
In all, over 1,100 of these 1938 cars were built — with some still in use in London up until 1988. A handful were recycled on the Isle of Wight's Island Line, but in 2020 these were replaced with 'new' (aka 1980s) London Underground stock.
Nowadays, you can admire these beauts in museums and depots, but you get a chance to ride them a few times a year.
Unfortunately these heritage rides are very much NOT at 1938 prices: adult tickets start at £25, going up to £30, though there are concession rates for kids. As usual spaces are going fast.
If you're looking for a thriftier heritage Tube experience, you can always hop on the Bakerloo line, the stock of which which is way over half a century old.
Heritage Tube rides, 2-4 May 2026.
