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, 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.

More about transport in London


Underground	National Rail	Overground	Elizabeth line	DLR	Trams	Buses	River Services	Air

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

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
William Henry Barlow FRS FRSE FICE MIMechE (10 May 1812 – 12 November 1902) was an English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway engineering projects. Barlow was born in Woolwich, the son of mathematician and physist Professor Peter Barlow, who taught at the Royal Military Academy. From the mid 1840s until 1857, Barlow was chief engineer for the Midland Railway, after which he set up his on consultancy in London. Between 1862 and 1869 he was the consultant engineer on the Midland Railway's extension from Bedford to London, designing St Pancras station and the 240-foot (73 m) wide cast iron and glass train shed roof over the platforms, the widest unsupported arch in the world at the time. Barlow was also engineer on the completion of Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol and sat on the committee which investigated the causes of the Tay Bridge disaster in 1879. He designed the replacement Tay Bridge completed in 1887. In 1880, he was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. (Full article...) All Selected biographies
Did you know...
...that Arsenal is the only Underground station to be named after a London football club (it was previously known as Gillespie Road)? Watford and West Ham are both named after the areas they serve. ...that 900 London buses were commandeered for use as troop transports on the Western Front during World War I? ...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 a stuffed puffer fish, a samurai sword, human skulls, breast implants and a lawnmower are amongst items handed into TfL's lost property office during its 75-year existence? ...that at Whitechapel the London Overground line runs below the London Underground line? More Did you know...
Related portals
Transport Buses Trains London England

Selected pictures

Image 1Camden Lock or Hampstead Road Lock in Camden Town, north London is the only twin lock on the Regent's Canal.
Image 2A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
Image 3Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
Image 4Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
Image 5Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
Image 6The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
Image 7London 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 8Arguably 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 9The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
Image 10Stockwell bus garage, Stockwell, a Grade II* listed building.
Image 11Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
Image 12The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
Image 13Gondolas of the Emirates Air Line cable car cross the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Docks.
Image 14Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
Image 15Victoria line 2009 Stock train at Euston.
Image 1655 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
Image 17Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
Image 18Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
Image 19The 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 20London 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 21Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
Image 22Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
Image 23Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
Image 24A Hansom cab at Somerset House.
Image 25Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
Image 26Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
Image 27An air raid shelter in a London Underground station during The Blitz.
Image 28London Overground Class 378 train on the East London Line in Hoxton.
Image 29Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
Image 30Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
Image 31Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949.
Image 32London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
Image 33Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
Image 34Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
Image 35Sailing 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 36"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
Image 37Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
Image 38The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
Image 39Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
Image 40Eurostar Class 373 trains at St Pancras station.
Image 41Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
Image 42TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
Image 43Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
Image 44Tower Bridge; a bascule bridge across the River Thames.
Image 45View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
Image 46Thames Clippers service catamaran on the River Thames.
Image 47Duck tour converted DUKW amphibious vehicle exiting the River Thames.
Image 48The 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 49The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.