• Transport for London – information about London buses

    London”s transport forms the hub of the road, rail and air networks in the United Kingdom. It has its own dense and extensive internal private and public transport networks, as well as providing a focal point for the national road and railway networks. London also has a number of international airports including one of the world”s busiest, Heathrow and a seaport.

    London Airports transport system is one of the Mayor of London”s four policy areas, administered by its executive agency Transport for London (TfL). TfL controls the majority of public transport in the area, including the Underground, London Buses, Tramlink, the Docklands Light Railway, and London Overground rail services within Greater London; other rail services are franchised to train operating companies by the national Department for Transport (DfT). TfL also controls most major roads in the area, but not minor roads (see below).

    In May 2010, the Mayor issued his transport strategy,[1] which he described it as being „a key part of a strategic policy framework to support and shape London”s social and economic development”. That framework also includes the London Plan, the Mayor”s spatial planning strategy.
    Colloquially known as the Tube, London Underground is the oldest metro 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.[2] The Underground has 11 lines, most of which connect the suburbs to Central London and provide a distribution role around the city centre, particularly from major railway terminals.

    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 Thames. South London is served primarily by surface railways (although it should be noted that the majority of London Underground”s route length is actually on the surface rather than in tunnel).