Portal:London transport

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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, London Overground, the Elizabeth line, 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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Mornington Crescent is a game featured as a round in the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. The game satirises complicated strategy games, particularly the obscure jargon involved in such games as contract bridge or chess. A game consists of each player in turn announcing a landmark, most often a tube station on the London Underground system; the winner is the first player to announce "Mornington Crescent," a station on the Northern line. The humour of the game is that though the rules are invoked and argued, they are never fully explained. The origin of the game is not clear. One account is that the game was invented to vex the series producer, who was unpopular with the panellists. Another is that it was invented at a Soho actors' club to infuriate boorish customers. In introducing the game, the chairman will generally elaborate on the obscure and unknown rules by advising the players that specific rule variations will be used for that round, such as "Trumpington's Variations," or "Tudor Court Rules". Listeners unaware of the satirical nature of the game who have asked for the rules are told that "N F Stovold’s Mornington Crescent: Rules and Origins" is out of print. (Full article...) All selected articles
Selected biography
Charles Pearson (4 October 1793 – 14 September 1862) was a solicitor to the City of London, a reforming campaigner and briefly a Member of Parliament for Lambeth constituency. He was involved in many campaigns and reformations including overturning the ban on Jews from being stockbrokers. He also fully supported universal suffrage and electoral reform to balance the sizes of parliamentary constituencies. Recognising the growth in the outer suburbs of London and inner city congestion, he proposed the construction of an underground railway through the Fleet valley to Farringdon. His first proposal was that of an atmospheric railway, which was ridiculed, but he continued to campaign throughout the 1840s and 1850s. Various other schemes included a rejected plan for a central railway station to be shared by multiple railway companies. In 1854, a private bill for the Metropolitan Railway between Paddington and Farringdon received assent. Although not a director or shareholder, Pearson's publishing of a pamphlet and continued support eventually convinced the City of London to support for the project. Pearson died of dropsy on 14 September 1862 at his home at West Hill, Wandsworth, and so was not alive to see the opening of the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863. Pearson had refused the offer of a reward from the railway company, but, shortly after the railway's opening, his widow was granted an annuity of £250 per year. (Full article...) All Selected biographies
Did you know...
...that the Underground's architect Charles Holden and LPTB Managing Director Frank Pick were both sons of drapers? ...that the first version of the Underground roundel was introduced in 1908, as a solid red disk and blue bar? ...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 the Jubilee line was originally to be called the Fleet line because it was originally to run under Fleet Street? ...that Tramlink routes first appeared on the standard Tube map in 2016? More Did you know...
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Selected pictures

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