Portal:London transport

The London transport portal

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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.

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Selected article
Hammerton's Ferry is a pedestrian and cycle ferry service across the River Thames in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, London, England. The ferry links the northern bank near Marble Hill House in Twickenham with the southern bank near Ham House in Ham. It is one of only four remaining ferry routes in London not to be replaced by a bridge or tunnel. In 1908, local resident Walter Hammerton began hiring out boats to leisure users from a boathouse opposite Marble Hill House, and in 1909 began to operate a regular ferry service across the river at this point using a 12-passenger clinker-built skiff, charging 1d per journey. In 1913, William Champion, and Lord Dysart, operators of the nearby Twickenham Ferry, took legal action against Hammerton to remove his right to operate the ferry. Although Hammerton won the initial case, the judgement was reversed on appeal. Following considerable public interest in the case, a public subscription raised the funds for Hammerton to take the case to the House of Lords, which ruled in his favour on 23 July 1915. (Full article...) All selected articles
Selected biography
Sir John Fowler (15 July 1817 – 20 November 1898) was a British civil engineer specialising in the construction of railways and railway infrastructure. Fowler's was a long and eminent career, spanning most of the 19th century's railway expansion, and he was engineer, adviser or consultant to many British and foreign railway companies and governments. Fowler had a busy practice, working on many railway schemes across the country. In 1853, he became chief engineer of the Metropolitan Railway in London, the world's first underground railway. Constructed in shallow "cut-and-cover" trenches beneath city streets, the line opened between Paddington and Farringdon in 1863. Fowler was also engineer for the associated District Railway and the Hammersmith and City Railway. Later in his career, he was also a consultant with his partner Benjamin Baker and with James Henry Greathead on two of London's first tube railways, the City and South London Railway and the Central London Railway. As part of his railway projects, Fowler designed numerous bridges, including the Grosvenor Bridge, the first railway bridge over the River Thames, the 13-arch Dollis Brook Viaduct for the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway and, most famously, the Forth Railway Bridge for which he was made a baronet. (Full article...) All Selected biographies
Did you know...
...that Acton is the only place in London to have stations named after all four of the cardinal points, north, south, east, and west? ...that Sir Jacob Epstein's statute Day on the Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway caused controversy when it was unveiled due to the length of the penis on one of the figures? Epstein later reduced the length. ...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 trains on the Waterloo & City line never see the light of day? ... that an atmospheric railway once ran between Forest Hill and West Croydon? More Did you know...
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Selected pictures

Image 1Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
Image 2The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
Image 3Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
Image 4Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
Image 5Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
Image 6London 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 7The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
Image 8The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
Image 9Tower bridge; a bascule bridge across the River Thames.
Image 10Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
Image 11TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
Image 12View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
Image 13Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
Image 14"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
Image 15The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
Image 16Arguably 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 17A Hansom cab at Somerset House.
Image 18A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
Image 19The 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 20Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
Image 21Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949.
Image 22An air raid shelter in a London Underground station during The Blitz.
Image 23Victoria line 2009 Stock train at Euston.
Image 24Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
Image 25The 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 26London Overground Class 378 train on the East London Line in Hoxton.
Image 27Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
Image 28Thames Clippers service catamaran on the River Thames.
Image 2955 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
Image 30The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
Image 31Sailing 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 32Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
Image 33Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
Image 34Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
Image 35Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
Image 36Gondolas of the Emirates Air Line cable car cross the River Thames from Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Docks.
Image 37London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
Image 38Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
Image 39Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
Image 40Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
Image 41Duck tour converted DUKW amphibious vehicle exiting the River Thames.
Image 42Stockwell bus garage, Stockwell, a Grade II* listed building.
Image 43Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
Image 44Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
Image 45Eurostar Class 373 trains at St Pancras station.
Image 46Camden Lock or Hampstead Road Lock in Camden Town, north London is the only twin lock on the Regents Canal.
Image 47Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
Image 48London 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 49Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.