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 Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR), also known as the Piccadilly tube, was a railway company established in 1902 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London. Formed through a merger of two older companies, the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway and the Great Northern and Strand Railway, it also incorporated part of a tube route planned by the Metropolitan District Railway. The combined company was a subsidiary of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL). When it opened in 1906, the GNP&BR's line served 22 stations and ran for 14.17 kilometres (8.80 mi) between its western terminus at Hammersmith and its northern terminus at Finsbury Park. A short 720-metre (2,362 ft) branch connected Holborn to the Strand. Within the first year of opening it became apparent to the management and investors that the estimated passenger numbers for the GNP&BR and the other UERL lines were over-optimistic. Despite improved integration and cooperation with the other tube railways, the GNP&BR struggled financially. In 1933 it and the rest of the UERL were taken into public ownership. Today, the GNP&BR's tunnels and stations form the core central section of the London Underground's Piccadilly line. (Full article...) All selected articles
Today's anniversary
Charles Tyson Yerkes (25 June 1837 – 29 December 1905) was an American financier. He played a major part in developing mass-transit systems in Chicago and London. Yerkes was born in the Northern Liberties, a district of Philadelphia, the son of a banker. At 17 he became a clerk in a grain brokerage and at 22 set up his own firm and joined the Philadelphia stock exchange. By 1865 he had moved into banking and specialized in selling municipal, state, and government bonds. A large speculative trade with Philadelphia public money ended disastrously, and he was left insolvent and narrowly avoided being jailed. Having moved to Chicago in 1881, Yerkes became involved in public transportation when his consortium began taking over street railway companies. His aim was to achieve a monopoly of public transport in the city and he used bribery and blackmail in order to further his ambition. Following an unsuccessful attempt to bribe the city council and state legislature into granting him a 100-year franchise for the tramway system, Yerkes sold his transport stocks in 1899 and moved to New York. In September 1900, he became involved in underground railways in London, buying the unbuilt Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway. In 1902, he established the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) which bought a number tube railway companies which had not been able to find finance. Money was quickly raised using complex financial instruments and the UERL built and opened four tube lines by 1907. Yerkes died in December 1905 shortly before the first of these, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, opened in March 1906. Through subsequent acquisition and expansion, the UERL became the core of the London Underground and London's main bus operator. In addition to his railway's in London and Chicago, Yerkes is remembered through the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin and the Yerkes crater on the Moon. (Full article...) All Selected biographies
Did you know...
...that six tube stations are named after pubs: Angel, Elephant & Castle, Manor House, Maida Vale , Royal Oak and Swiss Cottage? ...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 their specially designed small turning circle enables London's black cabs to make 50 million U-turns per year? ...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 1Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
Image 2Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
Image 3The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
Image 4London 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 5Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949.
Image 6Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
Image 7Tower bridge; a bascule bridge across the River Thames.
Image 8The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
Image 9A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
Image 10Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
Image 11Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
Image 12Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
Image 1355 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
Image 14A Hansom cab at Somerset House.
Image 15Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
Image 16Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
Image 17Camden Lock or Hampstead Road Lock in Camden Town, north London is the only twin lock on the Regents Canal.
Image 18View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
Image 19An air raid shelter in a London Underground station during The Blitz.
Image 20TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
Image 21Thames Clippers service catamaran on the River Thames.
Image 22Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
Image 23The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
Image 24Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
Image 25Sailing 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 26The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
Image 27Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
Image 28Gondolas of the Emirates Air Line cable car cross the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Docks.
Image 29Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
Image 30The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
Image 31Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
Image 32Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
Image 33Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
Image 34The 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 35Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
Image 36London 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 37Arguably 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 38"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
Image 39London Overground Class 378 train on the East London Line in Hoxton.
Image 40Duck tour converted DUKW amphibious vehicle exiting the River Thames.
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 42Victoria line 2009 Stock train at Euston.
Image 43Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
Image 44London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
Image 45Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
Image 46Stockwell bus garage, Stockwell, a Grade II* listed building.
Image 47Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
Image 48Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
Image 49Eurostar Class 373 trains at St Pancras station.