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


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Selected article
The London Ringways were a series of four ring roads planned in the 1960s to circle London at various distances from the city centre. They were part of a comprehensive scheme developed by the Greater London Council to alleviate traffic congestion on the city's road system by providing high speed motorway-standard roads within the capital linking a series of radial roads taking traffic into and out of the city. The plan was hugely ambitious and met, almost immediately, with opposition from a number of directions including residents associations, London Borough councils, the Treasury and the Department of Transport. Despite this opposition the GLC continued to develop its plans and began the construction of some of the earlier parts of the scheme. In 1972, in an attempt to placate the plan's vociferous opponents, the GLC dropped parts of the two innermost ringways, but the scheme was cancelled in 1973 at which point only three sections had been constructed – the East Cross Route, part of the West Cross Route and the Westway. Significant sections of the report's proposals have also been built over the subsequent years including improvements to the North Circular Road and, most importantly, the M25 and M26 motorways which were formed from an amalgamation of parts of the two outermost rings. (Full article...) All selected articles
Selected biography
James Whitaker Wright (9 February 1846 - 26 January 1904) was an exceptionally wealthy English mining company owner. He became infamous when he committed suicide at the Royal Courts of Justice in London immediately following his conviction for fraud. Born in Stafford, Wright emigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1870, before moving to the United States. Wright began promoting silver-mining companies in Leadville, Colorado and Lake Valley, New Mexico. Although none of the companies made money for the shareholders, Wright made a fortune. After returning to Britain, he continued to promote mining companies in Australia and Canada on the London market and used his expanding fortune to develop a country estate at Witley Park in Surrey. In the 1890s Wright established the London & Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC) as a method of financing more mining issues. The L&GFC also took over the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway in 1897. In 1899, Wright manipulated the accounts of various L&GFC companies to conceal large losses by one of its mines. The fraud was discovered in December 1900 and the corporation collapsed. In 1904, Wright was sentenced to seven years imprisonment at the Royal Courts of Justice, but committed suicide by swallowing cyanide immediately after the verdict was announced. (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 sculptor Henry Moore's first public commission in 1928-29 was a relief sculpture West Wind for the Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway? ...that the River Thames froze 24 times between 1400 and 1814 and that Frost Fairs were often held on the ice? ...that at 44 tons, the locomotives of the Central London Railway's first underground trains were so heavy that they shook buildings as they passed 60 feet below and were scrapped after three years? ... that the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Railway Termini of 1846 was responsible for central London being mostly free of mainline railways and led, indirectly, to the creation of the London Underground? More Did you know...
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Selected pictures

Image 1Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
Image 2The 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 3The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
Image 4Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949.
Image 5Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
Image 6Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
Image 7"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
Image 8Gondolas of the Emirates Air Line cable car cross the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Docks.
Image 9The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
Image 10London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
Image 11The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
Image 12Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
Image 13Arguably 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 14London 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 15View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
Image 16A Hansom cab at Somerset House.
Image 17Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
Image 18Stockwell bus garage, Stockwell, a Grade II* listed building.
Image 19Thames Clippers service catamaran on the River Thames.
Image 20Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
Image 21Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
Image 22TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
Image 2355 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
Image 24Sailing 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 25Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
Image 26The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
Image 27Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
Image 28Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
Image 29Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
Image 30Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
Image 31Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
Image 32The 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 33Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
Image 34Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
Image 35Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
Image 36An air raid shelter in a London Underground station during The Blitz.
Image 37Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
Image 38Duck tour converted DUKW amphibious vehicle exiting the River Thames.
Image 39London 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 40Tower Bridge; a bascule bridge across the River Thames.
Image 41The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
Image 42London Overground Class 378 train on the East London Line in Hoxton.
Image 43Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
Image 44Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
Image 45Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
Image 46Camden Lock or Hampstead Road Lock in Camden Town, north London is the only twin lock on the Regent's Canal.
Image 47Eurostar Class 373 trains at St Pancras station.
Image 48A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
Image 49Victoria line 2009 Stock train at Euston.