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, 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.

More about transport in London


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Selected article
High Speed 1, officially known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, is a 108-kilometre (67-mile) high-speed railway line running from London through Kent to the British end of the Channel Tunnel. When the Channel Tunnel was opened, Eurostar trains ran on standard commuter tracks through Kent and south London to Waterloo International, running at speeds much below their maximum due to speed limits and competing rail traffic. High Speed 1 was constructed to provide a dedicated fast route between the tunnel and London and was constructed and opened in two sections. The first section of the line was opened in September 2003 and ran from the tunnel to North Kent where trains transferred from the high speed tracks to the Kent and South London commuter network to run to Waterloo International. The second section of the line, travelling under the River Thames and into London St Pancras, opened on 14 November 2007. Built at a cost of £5.2bn, the link allows trains to travel at speeds of 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph), cutting pre-2003 Eurostar journey times by 40 minutes and increasing service frequency. It is now possible to travel from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord in 2 hours 15 minutes, and to Brussels South in 1 hour 51 minutes. Domestic high speed commuter services from Kent to St Pancras started in December 2009 running at speeds of up to 225 kilometres per hour (140 mph). (Full article...) All selected articles
Selected biography
Sir Charles Herbert Bressey CB, CBE (3 January 1874 – 14 April 1951) was a civil engineer and surveyor who specialised in road design. Bressey was Chief Engineer for Roads at the Ministry of Transport from 1921 to 1938. Between 1935 and 1938 he carried out research on road planning and motorway design in preparation for his Highway Development Survey, 1937 for Greater London published in 1938. He served as President of the Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 1938-9. During World War I, Bressey served in the Royal Engineers and spent time in France and Flanders constructing military roads attaining the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel before he left the army in November 1919, when he joined the Ministry of Transport. His 1938 report proposed a series of high capacity motorways radiating outwards from the city and made recommendations for a series of circular routes around the capital and major road improvements in the central area, including tunnels under Kensington Gardens, Victoria Park and Islington High Street and a viaduct from Rotherhithe to Forest Hill. Although World War II delayed the implementation of any of the recommendations, they were subsequently featured in a number of post war reports such as Sir Patrick Abercrombie's County of London Plan and the Greater London Council's 1960s London Ringways scheme and were the origins of plans that were later combined to create London's orbital motorway, the M25. (Full article...) All Selected biographies
Did you know...
...that the Westway, the West Cross Route and the East Cross Route are the only parts of the GLC's 1960s plan for the London Motorway Box to be built? ...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 Limehouse Cut which links the River Lee Navigation and Limehouse Basin in east London is the capital's oldest canal, opened in 1766? ...that their specially designed small turning circle enables London's black cabs to make 50 million U-turns per year? ... that the Queen and Prince Charles each travelled on London Underground trains from Green Park tube station when they carried out the official openings of the Victoria and Jubilee lines? More Did you know...
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Selected pictures

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