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


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Selected article
The A1 in London is an A road in North London. It runs from the London Wall to Bignall's Corner, where it crosses the M25 motorway and becomes the A1(M) motorway, continuing to Edinburgh. The London section passes through four London boroughs: the City of London, Islington, Haringey and Barnet. Whilst the route of the A1 outside London closely follows the historic route of the Great North Road, the London section for the most part does not. The current route of the London section of the A1 road was mainly designated as such in 1927. It comprises a number of historic streets in central London and the former suburbs of Islington, Holloway and Highgate and long stretches of purpose-built new roads in the outer London borough of London Borough of Barnet, built to divert traffic away from the congested suburbs of Finchley and High Barnet. The London section of the A1 is one of London's most important roads. It links North London to the M1 motorway and the A1(M) motorway, and consequently serves as Central London's primary road transport artery to the Midlands, Northern England and Scotland. It also connects a number of major areas within London, and sections of it serve as the High Street for many of the now-joined villages that make up north London. (Full article...) All selected articles
Selected biography
Charles Henry Holden (12 May 1875–1 May 1960) was an English architect best known for his designs of some of the 1920s and 1930s stations on the London Underground, but who was already a distinguished architect before then, notably for his Imperial War Graves Commission cemeteries in Belgium and northern France. Among his early architectural works at the beginning of the 20th century were Bristol Central Library and British Medical Association building in Strand. From the 1920s to the 1940s Holden was architect for numerous projects for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London and later London Transport. The earliest of Holden's commissions included stations on the southward extension of the Northern line to Morden in 1925-6 and a new company headquarters in 1927-9. The 1930-3 Piccadilly line extensions gave Holden the chance to develop a new type of station. Aiming for a striking and inviting modern appearance, he produced a set of designs based on simple, geometric forms built of brick and concrete. A number of these stations are listed buildings. Many of Holden's later designs for Underground stations went unrealised or were scaled back because of World War II with only East Finchley representative of a series of stations planned for the cancelled extension of the Northern line to Bushey Heath and with stations on the Central line's extension into east London being scaled back by post-war austerity. Modestly believing that architecture was a joint effort, Holden twice declined the offer of a Knighthood. (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 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 the controversial demolition of the original Euston station and the destruction of the iconic Euston Arch in the early 1960s was opposed by many including John Betjeman and Nikolaus Pevsner and led to the formation of the modern conservation movement in the Britain? ...that trains on the Waterloo & City line never see the light of day? ...that at Euston Underground station, a passenger changing between the Victoria line and Northern line Bank branch will find that trains on adjacent platforms travel in opposite directions even though both are either northbound or southbound? More Did you know...
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Selected pictures

Image 155 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
Image 2The 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 3The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
Image 4London 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 5An air raid shelter in a London Underground station during The Blitz.
Image 6Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
Image 7Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
Image 8Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
Image 9Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949.
Image 10The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
Image 11Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
Image 12TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
Image 13Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
Image 14Eurostar Class 373 trains at St Pancras station.
Image 15Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
Image 16Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
Image 17Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
Image 18London Overground Class 378 train on the East London Line in Hoxton.
Image 19Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
Image 20Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
Image 21"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
Image 22Tower bridge; a bascule bridge across the River Thames.
Image 23Stockwell bus garage, Stockwell, a Grade II* listed building.
Image 24Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
Image 25A Hansom cab at Somerset House.
Image 26The 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 27Thames Clippers service catamaran on the River Thames.
Image 28The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
Image 29Victoria line 2009 Stock train at Euston.
Image 30The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
Image 31A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
Image 32View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
Image 33Gondolas of the Emirates Air Line cable car cross the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Docks.
Image 34London 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 35The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
Image 36Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
Image 37Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
Image 38London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
Image 39Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
Image 40Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
Image 41Arguably 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 42Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
Image 43Camden Lock or Hampstead Road Lock in Camden Town, north London is the only twin lock on the Regents Canal.
Image 44Sailing 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 45Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
Image 46Duck tour converted DUKW amphibious vehicle exiting the River Thames.
Image 47Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
Image 48Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
Image 49Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.