Portal:London transport

The London transport portal

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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, 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.

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Selected article
The London Bridge located at Lake Havasu City, Arizona was original constructed across the River Thames in London by John Rennie to a design by his father and opened in 1831. In the 1960s, the City of London Corporation planned to construct a new London Bridge capable of carrying the loads and volume of modern traffic crossing the River and the bridge was offered for sale. American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch, purchased the bridge for US$2,460,000 for use as a tourist attraction at Lake Havasu. The bridge was painstakingly disassembled with each stone block receiving a reference number to enable correct reassembly. Re-erection started in 1968 and was completed in 1971 with the stones being erected as a facing around a reinforced concrete structure. (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 Blackfriars Underground station (opened 1870) pre-dates the main line station by sixteen years? ...that the first railway terminus in London was Spa Road station in Bermondsey, opened by the London and Greenwich Railway on 8 February 1836? ...that the shortest distance between two stations on the London Underground is 250 metres (0.16 miles), between Leicester Square and Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line? ...that Elfric Wells Chalmers Kearney proposed the construction of an underground monorail line from Cricklewood to The Oval? ... that an atmospheric railway once ran between Forest Hill and West Croydon? More Did you know...
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Selected pictures

Image 1The 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 2A Hansom cab at Somerset House.
Image 3Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
Image 4Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
Image 5The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
Image 6Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
Image 7The 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 8Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
Image 9The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
Image 10London 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 1155 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
Image 12Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
Image 13Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
Image 14Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
Image 15A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
Image 16Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
Image 17Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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 20Tower bridge; a bascule bridge across the River Thames.
Image 21Eurostar Class 373 trains at St Pancras station.
Image 22The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
Image 23Duck tour converted DUKW amphibious vehicle exiting the River Thames.
Image 24View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
Image 25TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
Image 26"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
Image 27Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949.
Image 28Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
Image 29Camden Lock or Hampstead Road Lock in Camden Town, north London is the only twin lock on the Regents Canal.
Image 30London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
Image 31Stockwell bus garage, Stockwell, a Grade II* listed building.
Image 32The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
Image 33Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
Image 34Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
Image 35Gondolas of the Emirates Air Line cable car cross the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Docks.
Image 36Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
Image 37Sailing 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 38Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
Image 39Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
Image 40The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
Image 41Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
Image 42London Overground Class 378 train on the East London Line in Hoxton.
Image 43Thames Clippers service catamaran on the River Thames.
Image 44Arguably 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 45Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
Image 46Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
Image 47Victoria line 2009 Stock train at Euston.
Image 48Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
Image 49London 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.