Portal:London transport

The London transport portal

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London transport

The London transport system is one of the oldest and largest public transport systems in the world. Many components of its transport system, such as the double-decker bus, the Hackney Carriage black taxi and the London Underground, are internationally recognised symbols of London.

Most transport services in London are controlled by Transport for London (TfL), an executive agency of the Greater London Authority. TfL-controlled services include the London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, the London Overground, Buses and Trams, most of which accept payment by the Oyster card. TfL also administers the congestion charge zone and the low emission zone.

London has a comprehensive rail network with several major railway stations linking to the rest of the country. International travel is possible from St Pancras International which connects to mainland Europe through the Eurostar service, or from one of six international airports, including Heathrow or Gatwick.

The M25 is an orbital motorway which enables vehicles to avoid travelling through central London and is one of the busiest motorways in Europe.

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Selected article
The Northern line is an underground railway in London, that is coloured black on the London Underground Tube map. The line's two branches carry 206.734 million passengers per year—the highest on the London Underground system. For most of its length it is built as a deep-level tube line. Despite its name, it is the Underground line that extends furthest south. There are 50 stations on the Northern line, of which 36 are underground. The line has a complicated history and the current complex arrangement of two northern branches, two central branches and the southern branch reflects its genesis as three separate railway companies that were brought together and combined in the 1920s and 1930s. The original routes were extended several times so that by 1926 the line served Edgware in the north and Morden in the south. Ambitious plans to take over and incorporate London & North Eastern Railway's Northern Heights branch lines and extend the line to Bushey were mostly cancelled following the Second World War. (Full article...) All selected articles
Selected biography
Sir Joseph William Bazalgette, CB (28 March 1819 – 15 March 1891) was an English civil engineer. As chief engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works his major achievement was the creation (in response to the Great Stink of 1858) of a sewer network for central London which was instrumental in relieving the city from cholera epidemics, while beginning the cleansing of the River Thames. Bazelgette was also responsible for the design of the Albert, Victoria and Chelsea Embankments along the north and south sides of the River Thames and bridges over the Thames at Putney, Hammersmith and Battersea. He also prepared early proposals for Blackwall Tunnel and Tower Bridge. (Full article...) All Selected biographies
Did you know...
...that the "Mind the gap" announcement is played when trains stop at stations with curved platforms to warn passengers of gaps between the platform edge and the doors? ...that the original carriages on the City and South London Railway were nicknamed "padded cells" due to their high backed cushioned seats and very small windows? ...that Limehouse Cut which links the River Lee Navigation and Limehouse Basin in east London is the capital's oldest canal, opened in 1766? ...that their specially designed small turning circle enables London's black cabs to make 50 million U-turns per year? ... that the Queen and Prince Charles each travelled on London Underground trains from Green Park tube station when they carried out the official openings of the Victoria and Jubilee lines? More Did you know...
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Image 1Tower bridge; a bascule bridge across the River Thames.
Image 2Gondolas of the Emirates Air Line cable car cross the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Docks.
Image 3Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
Image 4Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
Image 5Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
Image 6A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
Image 7London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
Image 8A Hansom cab at Somerset House.
Image 9Eurostar Class 373 trains at St Pancras station.
Image 10London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
Image 11The newly constructed junction of the Westway (A40) and the West Cross Route (A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
Image 12Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
Image 13Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
Image 14The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
Image 15The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
Image 16Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
Image 17Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
Image 18London Overground Class 378 train on the East London Line in Hoxton.
Image 19Thames Clippers service catamaran on the River Thames.
Image 20Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
Image 21Duck tour converted DUKW amphibious vehicle exiting the River Thames.
Image 22Stockwell bus garage, Stockwell, a Grade II* listed building.
Image 23Victoria line 2009 Stock train at Euston.
Image 24Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
Image 2555 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
Image 26TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
Image 27Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
Image 28Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
Image 29Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
Image 30Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
Image 31Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
Image 32Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
Image 33An air raid shelter in a London Underground station during The Blitz.
Image 34"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
Image 35Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
Image 36Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
Image 37The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
Image 38Camden Lock or Hampstead Road Lock in Camden Town, north London is the only twin lock on the Regents Canal.
Image 39Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
Image 40Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
Image 41The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
Image 42Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
Image 43Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
Image 44Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949.
Image 45The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
Image 46London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
Image 47The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
Image 48Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
Image 49View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.