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 Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (EH&LR) was a railway in north London constructed in the 1860s to connect Finsbury Park and Edgware, running via Highgate and Mill Hill. Later branches were extended to High Barnet and Alexandra Palace. The railway was owned and operated by the Great Northern Railway and primarily carried commuters to Moorgate via King's Cross and the Widened Lines. The railway was a precursor of parts of the London Underground's Northern line through its 1930s inclusion in the core of an ambitious expansion plan for that line. The EH&LR was to be transferred to the London Underground and electrified. Connections were to be constructed to the Northern line at Highgate and Edgware and to the Northern City Line, with an extension from Edgware to Bushey Heath. Works were stopped by the outbreak of the Second World War and only the work on the sections from Highgate to High Barnet and from Finchley Central to Mill Hill East were completed. The remainder of the line was closed in by British Railways the 1950s and is now disused. (Full article...) All selected articles
Selected biography
Sir Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet (7 September 1862 – 16 February 1932) was an American-born financier and philanthropist. He became a British subject in 1892 and was chairman of Speyer Brothers, the British branch of his family's international finance house, and a partner in the German and American branches. He was chairman of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL, forerunner of the London Underground) from 1906 to 1915, a period during which the company opened three underground railway lines, electrified a fourth and took over two more. Speyer was a supporter of the musical arts and a friend of several leading composers, including Edward Elgar, Richard Strauss and Claude Debussy. He was chairman of the Classical Music Society for ten years, and he largely funded the Promenade Concerts between 1902 and 1914. His non-musical charitable activities included being honorary treasurer of the fund for Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition. For his philanthropy he was made a baronet in 1906 and a Privy Counsellor in 1909. After the start of the World War I, he became the subject of anti-German attacks in the Press. In 1915, Speyer offered to resign from the Privy Council and to relinquish his baronetcy, but the Prime Minister turned down the offer. He resigned as chairman of the UERL and went to the United States. In 1921, the British government investigated accusations that Speyer had traded with the enemy during the war, and had participated in other wartime conduct incompatible with his status as a British subject. Speyer denied the charges, but his naturalisation was revoked and he was struck off the list of members of the Privy Council. (Full article...) All Selected biographies
Did you know...
...that the "Mind the gap" announcement is played when trains stop at stations with curved platforms to warn passengers of gaps between the platform edge and the doors? ...that there has been five stations named Shepherd's Bush, three called Wood Lane and two titled White City? ...that two people have had their coffins transported on the Underground: William Gladstone and Dr Barnardo? ...that the Kingsway tramway subway, the only underground tram route in the United Kingdom, operated under Kingsway from 1906 to 1952 with two underground tram stations at Holborn and Aldwych? Part of the route is still in use as the Strand Underpass. ...that at Whitechapel the London Overground line runs below the London Underground line? More Did you know...
Related portals
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Selected pictures

Image 1Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
Image 2Duck tour converted DUKW amphibious vehicle exiting the River Thames.
Image 3Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
Image 4TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
Image 5Camden Lock or Hampstead Road Lock in Camden Town, north London is the only twin lock on the Regent's Canal.
Image 6Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
Image 7Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
Image 8London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
Image 9Sailing 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 10The 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 11The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
Image 12Gondolas of the Emirates Air Line cable car cross the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Docks.
Image 13The 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 14Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
Image 15Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949.
Image 16An air raid shelter in a London Underground station during The Blitz.
Image 17Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
Image 18Victoria line 2009 Stock train at Euston.
Image 19"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
Image 20Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
Image 21Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
Image 22Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
Image 23The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
Image 2455 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
Image 25Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
Image 26Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
Image 27London 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 28London Overground Class 378 train on the East London Line in Hoxton.
Image 29View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
Image 30Stockwell bus garage, Stockwell, a Grade II* listed building.
Image 31Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
Image 32A Hansom cab at Somerset House.
Image 33The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
Image 34Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
Image 35The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
Image 36Thames Clippers service catamaran on the River Thames.
Image 37Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
Image 38Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
Image 39Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
Image 40Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
Image 41Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
Image 42The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
Image 43Eurostar Class 373 trains at St Pancras station.
Image 44Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
Image 45Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
Image 46Arguably 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 47Tower Bridge; a bascule bridge across the River Thames.
Image 48A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
Image 49London 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.