Harlow to London trains: 31 minutes, £4,744 a year

Harlow has two stations on the West Anglia Main Line and both run direct to London Liverpool Street. From Harlow Town the quickest scheduled journey is 31 minutes, and in the morning peak it is 35 to 38. From Harlow Mill, a mile and a half up the line, it is 41 to 42 minutes on a half-hourly service. Greater Anglia runs everything on the route.

An annual season ticket to London Terminals costs £4,744 from either station. The single biggest change for Harlow commuters in years is that you no longer have to buy one to get a sensible fare: pay as you go with contactless started at both Harlow stations on 8 March 2026.

Journey times from Harlow Town

Harlow Town is the fast station. It has four platforms, the outer pair used by services that skip the smaller stops.

Off-peak the pattern settles into a train roughly every ten minutes, alternating between a 31 minute run and a 34 minute one depending on how many intermediate stops it makes. In the peak nothing is quicker than 35 minutes, because the line is full.

Harlow Mill is slower on every train. A 07:34 from Harlow Mill reaches Liverpool Street at 08:16, 42 minutes, and the service is half-hourly rather than every ten minutes. If you can walk or drive to Harlow Town, the timetable is the reason to.

What it costs

There is a quirk worth knowing here. Harlow Mill costs more per trip but the same per season. A single from Harlow Mill is 50p dearer than from Harlow Town, and a return £1 dearer, yet the weekly, monthly and annual seasons are priced identically at both stations. If you commute five days a week from Harlow Mill you pay the same as your neighbour at Harlow Town for a slower journey. If you travel occasionally, you pay a small premium on every trip.

Contactless now works, and what that changes

Pay as you go with contactless went live at Harlow Town and Harlow Mill on 8 March 2026, as part of an extension to 20 Greater Anglia stations across Essex and Hertfordshire that also brought in Bishop’s Stortford, Sawbridgeworth, Roydon, Chelmsford and Stansted Airport, according to National Rail.

Tapping in and out with a card or phone charges you the same as an anytime or off-peak single depending on when you travel, so £13.60 in the peak and £10.90 off-peak from Harlow Town. No ticket, no queue, no working out in advance whether you are travelling before or after the off-peak boundary.

The catch is capping. National Rail is explicit that “capping is not available for pay as you go with contactless journeys that don’t include travel in London Zones 1 to 9”. A Harlow to Liverpool Street journey does end inside the London zones, so daily and Monday to Sunday caps apply on that route, but a tap-in journey that stays outside the zones will not be capped. If you are a five-day commuter, do the arithmetic against the £118.60 weekly season before you settle on tapping.

The break-even on a season ticket

At four peak days a week you are paying £108.80, which is £9.80 under the weekly season and £17.57 over the annual. At five days you are £17.40 over the weekly season, so the season wins outright. Below four days, buy singles or tap in. This is the calculation that has changed for a lot of Harlow commuters since hybrid working, and it is worth redoing rather than renewing an annual out of habit.

The two stations, compared

Harlow Town has twenty times the parking, a staffed ticket office all day and full step-free access to every platform. Harlow Mill has 31 spaces, no lifts and no ticket office. For anyone with a buggy, a wheelchair or a bike, the two are not comparable.

Live accessibility note. National Rail currently lists the lifts between the booking hall and the overbridge at Harlow Town as out of order. Step-free access to the platforms themselves is unaffected, but if you need the lift to get from the entrance up to the bridge, check the station page or arrange Passenger Assistance before you travel.

Getting to the station

Harlow Town sits on Station Approach off Edinburgh Way, on the northern edge of the town, and the walk into the town centre takes about 25 minutes. The A1019 corridor between the station and the town centre was rebuilt as Harlow’s first Sustainable Transport Corridor, finished in 2026, and it now carries a southbound bus lane connecting Harlow Town station to the bus station along with new footways and cycle routes. We cover that work, and what is still going on around the town, in Harlow roadworks and travel.

Both stations have bicycle storage and a drop-off point. Harlow Town has a bus interchange in the station forecourt.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the train from Harlow to London take?

Thirty-one minutes at best, from Harlow Town to London Liverpool Street off-peak. In the morning peak, 35 to 38 minutes. From Harlow Mill it is 41 to 42 minutes.

How much is a train from Harlow to London?

An anytime day return from Harlow Town is £27.20 and an off-peak day return is £21.80. Contactless charges the same as the equivalent single, £13.60 peak and £10.90 off-peak.

How much is an annual season ticket from Harlow to London?

£4,744 to London Terminals, from either Harlow Town or Harlow Mill. Adding a zones 1 to 6 Travelcard takes it to £6,116. Weekly is £118.60 and monthly is £455.50.

Can you use contactless at Harlow Town station?

Yes. Pay as you go with contactless started at Harlow Town and Harlow Mill on 8 March 2026. Tap in and out with the same card or device. Daily and weekly caps apply to journeys that reach the London zones.

Which London station do Harlow trains go to?

London Liverpool Street, direct, on Greater Anglia’s West Anglia Main Line. There is no change of train.

Is there parking at Harlow Town station?

Yes, 649 spaces, of which 18 are accessible bays. Harlow Mill has 31 spaces and no accessible bays.

Sources

• traintimes.org.uk, carrying National Rail timetables and walk-up fares, for the journey times and the single, return and Travelcard prices at both stations.
• Trainline season ticket prices, Harlow Town to London Liverpool Street and Harlow Mill to London Liverpool Street for the weekly, monthly and annual season figures.
• National Rail, pay as you go with contactless for the 8 March 2026 start date, the list of new stations and the capping rules.
• National Rail station pages for Harlow Town and Harlow Mill for parking, accessibility, staffing and the current lift fault.
• Essex Highways, Harlow Sustainable Transport Corridors for the station to town centre bus lane.

Fares and timetables change. Prices were checked on 10 August 2026 for travel the following weekday and exclude Railcard discounts. Confirm on the day with Greater Anglia or National Rail before you travel.

More Harlow local information: house prices, roadworks and travel, planning news and things to do in Harlow.