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 City & South London Railway (C&SLR) was the first deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway in the world to use electric traction. Originally intended for cable-hauled trains, the collapse of the cable contractor while the railway was under construction forced a change to electric traction before the line opened – an experimental technology at the time. When opened in 1890, it served six stations and ran for a distance of 5.1 kilometres (3.2 mi) in a pair of tunnels between the City of London and Stockwell, passing under the River Thames. The small size of the carriages with their high-backed seating led to them being nicknamed padded cells. The railway was extended several times north and south; eventually serving 22 stations over a distance of 21.7 km (13.5 mi) from Camden Town in north London to Morden in Surrey. Although the C&SLR was well used, the company struggled financially. In 1913, the C&SLR became part of the Underground Group of railways and, in the 1920s, it underwent major reconstruction works before its merger with the Group's Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway, to form what is now the Northern line. In 1933, the C&SLR and the rest of the Underground Group was taken into public ownership. (Full article...) All selected articles
Selected biography
Stanley Heaps was an English architect responsible for the design of a number of stations on the London Underground system as well as the design of train depots and bus and trolleybus garages for London Transport. In 1903 Heaps became assistant to Leslie Green the architect for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) and aided him in the design of the station buildings for the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway, the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR) and the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway; all distinctive with their striking red glazed terra cotta façades and semi-circular windows at first floor. Following the early death of Green in 1908, Heaps became the UERL's architect. His first independent station designs were for the four new stations on the Bakerloo line extension from Edgware Road Underground station opened in 1913 and 1915; the first stations on the system designed specifically to use escalators rather than lifts. After World War I, Heaps designed the stations for the 1923-4 extension of the CCE&HR from Golders Green to Edgware, giving them a suburban style in keeping with the new housing developments that were expected to grow around them. After the Edgware extension stations, Heaps concentrated on the design depot buildings, although he designed new stations at Osterley, Boston Manor and St. John's Wood. (Full article...) All Selected biographies
Did you know...
...that London Bridge was the only bridge over the Thames in London until Westminster Bridge was opened in 1750? ...that construction of North End station between Hampstead and Golders Green on the Northern line was abandoned before the station was finished when it was decided it would not have enough passengers? ...that the longest distance between two adjacent stations on the London Underground is 6.26 km (3.89 miles), between Chalfont & Latimer and Chesham on the Metropolitan line? ...that Elfric Wells Chalmers Kearney proposed the construction of an underground monorail line from Cricklewood to The Oval? ... that Croydon once had a Central station in addition to East, West and South stations? More Did you know...
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Selected pictures

Image 1Tower bridge; a bascule bridge across the River Thames.
Image 2Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
Image 3Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
Image 4Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
Image 5Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
Image 6Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
Image 7Camden Lock or Hampstead Road Lock in Camden Town, north London is the only twin lock on the Regents Canal.
Image 8London 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 9The 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 10Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
Image 11Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
Image 12London 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 13Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
Image 14Arguably 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 15Duck tour converted DUKW amphibious vehicle exiting the River Thames.
Image 16Thames Clippers service catamaran on the River Thames.
Image 17A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
Image 18An air raid shelter in a London Underground station during The Blitz.
Image 19Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
Image 20Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
Image 21The 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 22Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
Image 23A Hansom cab at Somerset House.
Image 24Sailing 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 25London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
Image 26Gondolas of the Emirates Air Line cable car cross the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Docks.
Image 27The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
Image 28TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
Image 29View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
Image 30Victoria line 2009 Stock train at Euston.
Image 31Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
Image 32Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
Image 33The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
Image 34Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
Image 35Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
Image 36Eurostar Class 373 trains at St Pancras station.
Image 37Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
Image 38The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
Image 39"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
Image 40Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
Image 41Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
Image 42Stockwell bus garage, Stockwell, a Grade II* listed building.
Image 4355 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
Image 44The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
Image 45Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949.
Image 46London Overground Class 378 train on the East London Line in Hoxton.
Image 47The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
Image 48Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
Image 49Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.