Portal:London transport

The London transport portal

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.

More about transport in London


Buses	Taxis	Underground	Overground	DLR	Tramlink	National Rail	River Services	Heathrow Airport

Selected article
The Jubilee line is a line on the London Underground, coloured silver grey on the Tube map. The line opened on 1 May 1979, taking over one of the Bakerloo line's two branches to relieve congestion on their common portion. The Baker Street to Stanmore branch was joined to a new four-kilometre segment into central London, terminating at a new station at Charing Cross. The new station was created by amalgamating Strand on the Northern line and Trafalgar Square on the Bakerloo. The new line was to have been called the Fleet Line after the River Fleet, but the project was renamed for Queen Elizabeth II's 1977 Silver Jubilee and because the original plans to go east towards Fleet Street had been postponed. The eastward extension was eventually cancelled and a revised route south running south of the River Thames via Waterloo and London Bridge was planned to take the line to the London Docklands, Canary Wharf and Stratford. The Jubilee Line Extension branched from the original line south of Green Park Underground station and opened in sections during 1999. The Jubilee line platforms at Charing Cross were closed when the final section opened. Read more... All selected articles
Selected biography
William Henry Barlow FRS FRSE FICE MIMechE (10 May 1812 – 12 November 1902) was an English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway engineering projects. Barlow was born in Woolwich, the son of mathematician and physist Professor Peter Barlow, who taught at the Royal Military Academy. From the mid 1840s until 1857, Barlow was chief engineer for the Midland Railway, after which he set up his on consultancy in London. Between 1862 and 1869 he was the consultant engineer on the Midland Railway's extension from Bedford to London, designing St Pancras station and the 240-foot (73 m) wide cast iron and glass train shed roof over the platforms, the widest unsupported arch in the world at the time. Barlow was also engineer on the completion of Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol and sat on the committee which investigated the causes of the Tay Bridge disaster in 1879. He designed the replacement Tay Bridge completed in 1887. In 1880, he was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. (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 900 London buses were commandeered for use as troop transports on the Western Front during World War I? ...that the River Thames froze 24 times between 1400 and 1814 and that Frost Fairs were often held on the ice? ... that the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Railway Termini of 1846 was responsible for central London being mostly free of mainline railways and led, indirectly, to the creation of the London Underground? More Did you know...
Related portals

Selected pictures
Image 1Arguably 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 2Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862. Image 3Duck tour converted DUKW amphibious vehicle exiting the River Thames. Image 4The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line. Image 5Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station. Image 6View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh. Image 7TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport. Image 8Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train. Image 9A Hansom cab at Somerset House. Image 10The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster. Image 11Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge". Image 12The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station. Image 13Sailing 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 14Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012. Image 15London 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 16Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye. Image 17Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse. Image 18Tower bridge; a bascule bridge across the River Thames. Image 19London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work. Image 20Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London. Image 21Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station. Image 22Thames Clippers service catamaran on the River Thames. Image 23Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway. Image 24The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site. Image 25Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea. Image 2655 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden. Image 27Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4. Image 28A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910. Image 29Camden Lock or Hampstead Road Lock in Camden Town, north London is the only twin lock on the Regents Canal. Image 30Gondolas of the Emirates Air Line cable car cross the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Docks. Image 31An air raid shelter in a London Underground station during The Blitz. Image 32Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow. Image 33Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London. Image 34The 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 35Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms. Image 36Victoria line 2009 Stock train at Euston. Image 37Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea. Image 38Central London Railway poster, published in 1905. Image 39Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery. Image 40Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line. Image 41Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949. Image 42The 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 43London Overground Class 378 train on the East London Line in Hoxton. Image 44London 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 45Stockwell bus garage, Stockwell, a Grade II* listed building. Image 46The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle. Image 47Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy. Image 48Eurostar Class 373 trains at St Pancras station. Image 49"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria. All Selected pictures
In the news
10 August – One person dies and two others are injured in a bus crash at Victoria bus station. 20 September – Northern line extension from Kennington to Battersea Power Station opens. 25 October – The Ultra Low Emission Zone extends to include the area of Greater London within the North and South Circular Roads. 22 November – Transport for London announces a series of temporary overnight and weekend closures for repairs to the elevated section of Westway. 15 January – Northern line Bank branch closes between Kennington and Moorgate for 17 weeks for construction works at Bank station. Archive
Anniversaries
8 January 1991 – Cannon Street station rail crash kills 2 when a train hits the buffers due to driver error. 1999 – Spa Road Junction rail crash injures 4 when two trains collide and derail due to driver error.