London has an extensive and developed transport network which includes both public and private services. Journeys made on its integrated transport network account for 37% of London's journeys while private services accounted for 36% of journeys, walking 24% and cycling 2%, according to numbers from 2017. London's public transport network serves as the central hub for the United Kingdom in rail, air and road transport.
Public transport services are dominated by the city's executive agency for transport, Transport for London (TfL). TfL controls the majority of public transport, including the Underground, Buses, Tramlink, the Docklands Light Railway, London River Services, Elizabeth line and the London Overground.
Other rail services are either franchised to train operating companies by the Department for Transport (DfT) or, like Eurostar and Heathrow Express, operated on an open-access basis. TfL also controls most major roads in London, but not minor roads. In addition, there are several independent airports serving London, including Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe.
History
+ Management of London Transport 1933–2000 Dates Organisation Overseen by 1933–1947 London Passenger Transport Board London County Council 1948–1962 London Transport Executive British Transport Commission 1963–1969 London Transport Board Minister of Transport 1970–1984 London Transport Executive (Greater London only) Greater London Council 1970–1986 London Country Bus Services (Green Line only) National Bus Company 1984–2000 London Regional Transport Secretary of State for Transport 2000(2003)–present Transport for London Mayor of London
Early public transport in London began with horse-drawn omnibus services in 1829, which were gradually replaced by the first motor omnibuses in 1902. Over the years the private companies which began these services amalgamated with the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) to form a unified bus service. The Underground Electric Railways Company of London, also formed in 1902, unified the pioneering underground railway companies which built the London Underground; in 1912 the Underground Group took over the LGOC and in 1913 it also absorbed the London tramway companies. The Underground Group became part of the new London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) on 1 July 1933, which also took over the Metropolitan Railway. Underground trains, Green Line coaches, trolleybuses and trams then began to operate as London Transport, although the name 'General' continued to be seen on buses and their timetables for a few months longer.
The London Transport name continued in use until 2000 (2003 on the Underground), although the political management of transport services changed several times. The LPTB oversaw transport from 1933 to 1947 until it was re-organised as the London Transport Executive (1948 to 1962). Responsibility for London Transport was subsequently taken over to the London Transport Board (1963 to 1969), the Greater London Council (1970 to 1984) and London Regional Transport (1984 to 2000/2003).
Following the privatisation of London bus services in 1986, bus services were spun off to a separate operation based on competitive tendering, London Buses. On 3 July 2000, as part of the formation of the new Greater London Authority, responsibility for most of London Transport was taken over by a new transport authority, Transport for London (TfL), which is the publicly owned transport corporation for the London region now.Greater London Authority Act 1999 s154 et.seq.SI 2000 No.1548 The Transport for London (Specified Activities) Order 2000
However, because of the continuing controversy over public-private partnerships in connection with London Underground maintenance, the new GLA led by Mayor Ken Livingstone was not permitted to take control of the Underground until the PPP contracts had been signed. In the event, London Regional Transport continued in existence as the owner of London Underground Ltd until July 2003.London Regional Transport: 14 July 2003 Tube transfers to Mayor and TfL at midnight London Regional Transport was wound up on 15 July.
Metro and light rail
TfL operates three different railway systems across London. The largest is the London Underground, a rapid transit system operating on sub-surface lines and in deep-level "tube" lines. TfL also operates the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), an automated light metro system in the east of the city, and the Tramlink system.
The London Underground and the DLR account for 40 per cent of the journeys between Inner London and Outer London, making them the most highly used systems in all of London. These three systems extend to most points of London, creating a comprehensive and extensive system. One major area missed by these systems is South London, which is dominated by a large suburban rail network.
London Underground
Colloquially known as the Tube, the London Underground was the first rapid transit system in the world, having begun operations in 1863. More than 3 million passengers travel on the Underground every day, amounting to over 1 billion passenger journeys per year for the first time in 2006. The Underground has 11 lines, most of which connect the suburbs to Central London and together form a dense network in central London, linking major railway stations, central business areas and icons. The Underground serves North London much more extensively than South London. This is the result of a combination of unfavourable geology, historical competition from surface railways and the historical geography of London which was focused to the north of the River Thames. South London is served primarily by surface railways (the majority of London Underground's route length is actually on the surface rather than in tunnel).
Carrying nearly 50% of London's commuters, the Tube is the most heavily used mode of public transport in the area.
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the Docklands area of east London. It complements the London Underground, using the same fares system and having a number of interchanges with it.
The DLR serves over 101million passengers a year and is an essential piece of infrastructure to East London. The DLR's most heavily used stations are Bank, Canary Wharf, Canning Town, Lewisham and Woolwich Arsenal.
Partly thanks to the success of Canary Wharf, the system has expanded several times and now has five main branches connecting the Isle of Dogs and Royal Docks to each other and to the City of London, Stratford, Woolwich and Lewisham south of the river. It also serves London City Airport and Stratford International. A further extension to Dagenham Dock was proposed, but later cancelled by Mayor of London Boris Johnson in 2008. The Dagenham Dock extension has featured in later plans, but its status is uncertain. Further extensions are under consideration.
Tramlink
The Tramlink is a tram and light rail system serving Croydon and surrounding areas. It operates in the boroughs of Bromley, Croydon and Merton and Sutton and has 39 stations. In 2011, it carried over 28million passengers, up from 18 million in 2001.
The network consists of 39 stops along of track, on a mixture of street track shared with other traffic, dedicated track in public roads, and off-street track consisting of new rights-of-way, former railway lines, and one right-of-way where the Tramlink track runs parallel to a third rail-electrified Network Rail line.
The system runs on its own right of way, mixed use rails and with street traffic. The network has connections with the London Underground, the London Overground and the National Rail system. There are several extensions planned for the system, such as expanding its coverage and further integrating it into the Underground system.
Heavy rail
London is the focal point of the British railway network, with 18 major stations providing a combination of suburban, intercity, airport and international services; the stations are a mix of termini and through stations. Most areas of the city not served by the Underground or DLR are served by suburban heavy rail services into one of these stations. These suburban rail services are not part of Transport for London (apart from London Overground and Elizabeth line) but are owned and operated by a number of private rail firms and use TfL's Oyster card system.
The terminal (only) stations are Cannon Street, Charing Cross, Euston, Fenchurch Street, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, Marylebone, Moorgate, Paddington, Victoria and Waterloo. Paddington and Liverpool Street do have Elizabeth line services going through them.
The through stations are Waterloo East, City Thameslink, Old Street, and Vauxhall. The 'mixed' stations are St Pancras, Blackfriars and London Bridge. London is also linked by rail to mainland Europe by High Speed 1 (HS1) through the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. High-speed Eurostar trains serve Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam central station. Eurostar's London terminus is at St Pancras International and the HS1 route passes through Stratford International and two stations in the county of Kent, Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International.
Suburban and regional
London is the centre of an extensive radial commuter railway network which, along with Paris, is the busiest and largest in Europe, comprising 368 railway stations in the London fare zones, serving Greater London and the surrounding metropolitan area. Each terminus is associated with commuter services from a particular segment of this area. The majority of commuters to central London (about 80% of 1.1 million) arrive by either the Underground (400,000 daily) or by surface railway into these termini (860,000 daily).The Mayor's Transport Strategy – Figure 2.20 and Paragraph 2.76.
For historical reasons, London's commuter rail network is arranged in a radial form, and as a result the majority of services entering London terminate at one of the terminal stations around the edge of the city centre. Two long-distance National Rail lines currently go across London: the Thameslink route runs between the more distant towns of in the north and on the south coast, passing through the City of London north-south, London suburbs as well as Luton Airport Parkway and , while the Elizabeth line passes through the city eastwest and is operated by MTR Elizabeth line running between in the west and in the east. A major expansion of the Thameslink route is planned 2013–18, in which a number of existing regional rail services will be redirected via the cross-London Thameslink corridor.
Constantly increasing pressure on the commuter rail systems and on the Underground to disperse passengers from the busy terminals led to the multibillion-pound Crossrail project to develop the Elizabeth line. When it opened in May 2022, the Elizabeth line added further cross-London line passing through Paddington and Liverpool Street. New or upgraded stations have been provided at key city centre locations, linking to the Underground.
While most stations in central London are termini, there are a few notable exceptions. London Bridge station has several through lines to the more central termini at Cannon Street and Charing Cross, and trains to the latter also call at Waterloo East, linked to Waterloo by a footbridge. London Bridge's through platforms are also used by the Thameslink services of Govia Thameslink Railway, which cross the city centre, calling at Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and St Pancras.
London Overground