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

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Selected article
Westcott railway station was a small station built to serve the village of Westcott, Buckinghamshire, and nearby buildings attached to Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild's estate at Waddesdon Manor. It was built by the Duke of Buckingham in 1871 as part of a short private horse-drawn tramway for the Duke's estates in Buckinghamshire and to connect to the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway at Quainton Road. In 1872 the tramway was extended to Brill to provide a passenger service becoming known as the Brill Tramway. In 1899, the operation of the line was taken over by the Metropolitan Railway. Following the 1933 transfer of the Metropolitan Railway to public ownership to become the Metropolitan line of London Transport, Westcott station became a part of the London Underground, despite being over 40 miles (60 km) from central London. The management of London Transport believed it very unlikely that the line could ever be made viable, and Westcott station was closed, along with the rest of the line, in November 1935. The station building and its associated house are the only significant buildings from the Brill Tramway to survive other than the former junction station at Quainton Road. (Full article...) All selected articles
Selected biography
Henry Charles Beck (4 June 1902 – 18 September 1974), known as Harry Beck, was an English technical draughtsman best known for creating the present London Underground Tube map in 1931. Beck drew up the diagram in his spare time while working as an engineering draftsman at the London Underground Signals Office. London Underground was initially sceptical of Beck's radical proposal, an uncommissioned spare-time project, but tentatively introduced it to the public in a small pamphlet in 1933. Beck's approach to the map was to remove all geographical content except the River Thames so that the focus could be on the arrangement of lines and stations and to enable the central area to be expanded map. Beck first submitted his idea to Frank Pick in 1931 but it was considered too radical because it didn't show relative distances between stations. After a successful trial of 500 copies in 1932, distributed via a select few stations, the map was given its first full publication in 1933 (700,000 copies). It was immediately popular, and the Underground has used topological maps to illustrate the network ever since. Beck's contribution to the visual style of London Underground is recognised with a plaque at what was his local Underground station, Finchley Central; with a blue plaque at his birth place in Leyton and the Beck Gallery at the London Transport Museum. (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 River Thames froze 24 times between 1400 and 1814 and that Frost Fairs were often held on the ice? ...that trains on the Waterloo & City line never see the light of day? ... that the Royal Commission on London Traffic proposed constructing 9 miles (14 km) of avenues with railways underneath at the cost of £30 million in 1905? More Did you know...
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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 2TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
Image 3Arguably 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 4Eurostar Class 373 trains at St Pancras station.
Image 5London 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 6Gondolas of the Emirates Air Line cable car cross the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Docks.
Image 7London Overground Class 378 train on the East London Line in Hoxton.
Image 8Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
Image 9The 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 10View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
Image 11The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
Image 12The 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 13"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
Image 14A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
Image 15Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
Image 16Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
Image 17The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
Image 18Duck tour converted DUKW amphibious vehicle exiting the River Thames.
Image 19Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
Image 2055 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
Image 21Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
Image 22Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
Image 23Thames Clippers service catamaran on the River Thames.
Image 24The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
Image 25Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
Image 26Victoria line 2009 Stock train at Euston.
Image 27The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
Image 28Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
Image 29An air raid shelter in a London Underground station during The Blitz.
Image 30The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
Image 31A Hansom cab at Somerset House.
Image 32Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
Image 33Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
Image 34Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
Image 35Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949.
Image 36Sailing 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 37Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
Image 38Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
Image 39Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
Image 40Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
Image 41Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
Image 42Tower Bridge; a bascule bridge across the River Thames.
Image 43Stockwell bus garage, Stockwell, a Grade II* listed building.
Image 44London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
Image 45London 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 46Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
Image 47Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
Image 48Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
Image 49Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.