As you would expect of a major world capital city, London is served by an excellent communications system, with four airports, eight main rail termini, the famous ‘Tube’ and the distinctive red buses and black taxis.
Public transport within London
All travel in London is based on a zoning system in which concentric circles are the boundary for zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and journeys within or across these zones are priced accordingly. For bus travel, zones 4, 5 and 6 are combined. The cheapest way to pay for single journeys on the tube, buses, trams and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London is the Oyster card. Oyster single fares are cheaper than cash, you can top up the card whenever you need to, and the biggest bonus is that you don't need to queue to buy tickets – you just swipe the card when you enter the underground or board a bus. From 2 January 2010, the Oyster card system will be extended to cover all commuter rail routes in Greater London, plus Thames Clipper river services.
Air Travel
London is served by three main airports, Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, and by a fourth, City, designed largely for business travellers’ use, with daily flights to European destinations, including Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. Heathrow tends to serve the scheduled international and domestic market, and, although Gatwick and Stansted deal mainly with holiday charter and domestic flights, they are increasingly offering a large selection of scheduled flights, mainly from the low-cost operators.
Heathrow
Heathrow is the major London airport. Its four terminals (numbers 1, 3, 4, and 5 – terminal 2 having closed for rebuilding) serve most parts of the world, with some 90 airlines flying to over 180 destinations. It is situated 15 miles west of London along the M4 motorway. The Piccadilly Line of the London Underground serves Heathrow Airport, with the journey taking about 40 minutes from central London. There are three stations at the airport itself, one for Terminals 1 and 3, one for Terminal 4, and one for Terminal 5. Alternatively, there is a fast rail service from London’s Paddington station. Trains leave approximately every 15 minutes. National Express runs frequent services from Victoria Coach Station to Heathrow Airport.
Facilities are those expected of a major international airport, including shops, restaurants, office and secretarial facilities, and banks.
In early 2009, the Government approved the construction of a third runway at Heathrow, to cater for the expected increase in air travel.
Gatwick
Gatwick is situated about 28 miles south of London along the M23 motorway. It is particularly well known for its use as a holiday charter airport, and can become very busy during weekends in the summer season. Trains between Victoria station and Gatwick airport leave every 15 minutes, the journey taking about half an hour. National Express coaches run hourly between Victoria and Gatwick, and this journey takes about an hour.
There is a Jetlink bus service for those wishing to transfer between Heathrow and Gatwick.
Stansted
Stansted Airport has a large, airy and pleasant terminal building, though over the past few years it has undergone a large surge in passenger numbers as a result of being the preferred London base for the low-cost airlines. It is situated about 25 miles to the north east of London, easily reached from junction 8 of the M11, and via the Stansted Express rail service to and from Liverpool Street station, which takes around 40 minutes. Stansted serves a wide range of scheduled domestic and international departures, plus charter holiday traffic.
City Airport
There is usually just a 20-minute check-in at London City Airport, which is designed mainly for the business traveller. A number of carriers operate services to a good selection of European destinations, including Luxembourg, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Brussels, Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Lugano, Geneva, Basle, Bern, Zurich, Paris, Rennes, Le Havre and Bordeaux. Located at the Royal Docks, six miles east of the City and eight miles from the West End, facilities here include car parking and rental, bureau de change, London City Brasserie restaurant, various shops and taxis. There are frequent shuttle bus services linking the airport to Canary Wharf and Liverpool Street station, the former journey taking about 12 minutes, the latter about 30 minutes. Other routes to the airport are the Docklands Highway or the North London Line (Silvertown & London City Airport station is 300 yards from the airport terminal). The airport also has good dual carriageway connections to the A406 North Circular Road, which links directly to the A13, M11 and M25. Access from the south is via the Blackwall Tunnel, some three miles from the terminal or via the Woolwich ferry.
Taxis
There are countless minicab companies operating in the city. The central Taxi Cabs booking number can pass your requirement on to dozens of individual companies, depending on your location. This number is very useful in outer London, but in central London it is probably best to hail a licensed black cab. Lady Cabs serve the centre of the city and use only women drivers, and there are other companies offering the same service outside the centre.
The Tube
If you prefer not to use taxis to get around central London, you will probably find it quickest to take the Tube, which covers the centre of the city and much of the immediate suburban area via a network of interconnecting lines. The area to the north of the river is covered to a much greater extent than the area to the south.
The London Underground has frequent services operating for about 20 hours each day, with trains running every few minutes on most lines. The Circle line, for example, runs every eight minutes during weekdays and every ten minutes off peak. Other lines are more frequent, and the arrival times of approaching trains should be displayed on the platforms. The Tube is the world’s biggest underground train system, and services to most of the sought-after residential districts in London are generally good. If you decide to live within the network of the London Underground and wish to use this to travel to and from work, it will be worth your while checking the lines on which both your home and place of work lie, to ensure that travel between them does not involve too complex a series of connections. Using the Journey Planner which appears in all Underground stations and is available from all ticket offices, you can easily identify the best route to use from one location to another, with the different 'lines' marked by a colour coding system, e.g. the District Line is green, the Circle Line is yellow, the Central Line is red, and so on.
As a general guide to journey times, London Transport advises that you should allow about two minutes between stations in the main central area and about three to four minutes between stations further out. The longest journey between two stations is the six-minute journey between Hammersmith and Acton, on the Piccadilly Line. The cheapest way to pay for single journeys on the tube, buses, trams and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London is the Oyster card. Oyster single fares are cheaper than cash, you can top up the card whenever you need to, and the biggest bonus is that you don't need to queue to buy tickets, you just swipe the card when you enter the Underground or board a bus. Travel enquiries for both bus and Underground are answered from a central London Transport Travel Information line. There is also a Travelcheck line with details of how the transport system is running.
Docklands Light Railway
The fully automated Docklands Light Railway (DLR) runs throughout Docklands, on the north bank, from Bank Underground station, in the heart of London’s financial centre, out to Stratford and Beckton, in the east. At Poplar, a branch runs off south into and through the Isle of Dogs to Island Gardens (and for the foot tunnel under the Thames to Greenwich), and another branch runs off north to Stratford rail station to connect with the North London and Great Eastern lines and the Central Underground line. It takes about 12 minutes to travel from Canary Wharf to Bank, making it the quickest method of travelling between Docklands and the City. The service runs every eight to 12 minutes from 5.30am to about midnight. For information on Docklands Light Railway Services, call London’s transport information hotlines.
Buses
London is served by its famous red buses on a network of bus routes across the city. The system takes longer to understand than the Tube, but you will get to know London better being overground. Timetables cannot be relied on, as traffic is always heavy, and in rush hours particularly you may have to wait some time before a bus with any room stops for you. Almost all bus services in London are currently operated by London Transport, although, in the suburbs, private operators are increasingly operating fast Hopper services over short distances.
Coach Travel
National Express coaches operate between London and most towns in the UK. The terminal for all destinations is Victoria Coach Station. There are also many other companies connecting different parts of the UK with London. You can enquire at local travel agents for details.
The Eurolines terminus is also Victoria Coach Station, and its coaches serve destinations throughout Europe.
Rail
Railway Stations
Which regions do they serve?
Euston is the terminus for the midlands and the north west, including Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. Apart from such long-distance services, however, this is also the terminus for some trains from Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
For long-distance trains to Scotland and the north east, the eastern region terminus is King's Cross. King's Cross Thameslink is the central point for the Thameslink service, which runs between locations like Bedford, Luton and St Albans to the north and Haywards Heath and Brighton, south of London, without requiring a change. Central London stations on the Thameslink service include Farringdon, City Thameslink, Blackfriars and London Bridge.
St Pancras is situated close to King's Cross station and serves stations in the northern suburbs of London, through Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, and some midlands cities, such as Leicester.
Liverpool Street serves the eastern region and East Anglia. Trains arrive at Fenchurch Street from locations such as Basildon and Southend.
Paddington is the terminus for the western region, with services also to the south west and Wales.
Victoria is the main station for services to the south and south coast. Many trains travelling into Victoria stop at Clapham Junction, where a change can be made on to the Waterloo trains.
Charing Cross is the main London terminal for the south-eastern region, including Kent and the Channel Ports.
Waterloo serves stations to the south west through Surrey and Hampshire. Other popular residential locations, nearer to London, on the Waterloo line include Richmond, Twickenham, Barnes and Chiswick. Waterloo is also the terminus for the Eurostar service to Paris and Brussels.
Channel Tunnel
Eurotunnel trains run from the UK terminal at Cheriton (Folkestone) to the French terminal at Calais (Coquelle) up to three times per hour, depending on the time of year; the journey takes 35 minutes. Eurotunnel provides a freight and car transport service, but only takes passengers aboard buses or in cars.
Eurostar runs from the international passenger terminals at Waterloo, Ebbsfleet and Ashford. Trains travel direct to Lille, Paris and Brussels, and occasionally stop at Frethun, near Calais. The new high-speed Channel Tunnel Rail Link through north Kent, which links St Pancras with the Channel Tunnel via Ebbsfleet and Ashford, makes it possible to travel from London to Paris in two hours and 15 minutes.
Road
The North Circular (A406) and South Circular (A205) provide an orbital route for access to inner London. The M25 motorway encompasses Greater London and was originally designed as a bypass for through traffic, but it is used extensively for local travel as well, and is an extremely busy road, especially during rush hour.
The main routes out of London are:
- North A1 and M1
- South and South West A3 and M3
- South and South East A2 and M2
- East Anglia A11, M11 and A12
- West A4 and M4
- West and Midlands A40 and M40
Congestion charging
The congestion charge applies to any motorised vehicle crossing into the relevant area between 7am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays). Traffic signs make it very clear when drivers are approaching, entering and leaving the charging zone. On the approach to the congestion charge zone, directional signs indicate which routes take drivers into the charging zone and which roads do not.
On entering the congestion charge zone, the vehicle becomes liable to a £8 charge, which must be paid before midnight on the same day, or £10 if paid by midnight on the following day. The charge can be paid over the telephone, through a website, at petrol stations, by text message, at BT Internet kiosks and at designated newsagents. The charge increases dramatically the longer it remains unpaid. Disabled badge holders are exempt from the charge.
Sea
Dover is only about 70 miles away from London, and can usually be reached within two hours. LD Lines sails from Dover to Boulogne and Dieppe; Norfolkline operates between Dover and Dunkirk; and P&O Ferries and SeaFrance operate between Dover and Calais. Information on timetables and prices can be obtained from the ferry operators.
