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Transport
Transport
Transport is one of the four areas of policy administered by the Mayor of London, however the mayor's financial control is limited and he does not control the heavy rail network, although in November 2007 he assumed responsibility for the North London Railway as well as several other lines, to form London Overground.
The public transport network, administered by Transport for London (TfL), is one of the most extensive in the world, but faces congestion and reliability issues, which a large investment programme is attempting to address, including £7 billion (€10 billion) of improvements planned for the Olympics.
London has been commended as the city with the best public transport.
Cycling is an increasingly popular way to get around London.
The London Cycling Campaign lobbies for better provision.
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Railways
The centrepiece of the public transport network is the London Underground—commonly referred to as The Tube—which has eleven interconnecting lines.
It is the oldest, longest, and most expansive metro system in the world, dating from 1863.
The system was home to the world's first underground electric line, the City & South London Railway, which began service in 1890.
Over three million journeys a day are made on the Underground network, nearly 1 billion journeys each year.
The Underground serves the central area and most suburbs to the north of the Thames, while those to the south are served by an extensive suburban rail surface network.
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The Docklands Light Railway is a second metro system using smaller and lighter trains, which opened in 1987, serving East London and Greenwich on both sides of the Thames.
Commuter and intercity railways generally do not cross the city, instead running into fourteen terminal stations scattered around its historic centre; the exception is the Thameslink route operated by First Capital Connect, with terminus stations at Bedford, Brighton and Moorgate.
Since the early 1990s, increasing pressures on the commuter rail and Underground networks have led to increasing demands—particularly from businesses and the City of London Corporation—for Crossrail: a £10 billion east–west heavy rail connection under central London, which was given the green light in early October 2007.
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High-speed Eurostar trains link St Pancras International with Lille and Paris in France, and Brussels in Belgium.
Journey times to Paris and Brussels of 2h 15 and 1h 51 respectively make London closer to continental Europe than the rest of Britain by virtue of the newly completed High Speed 1 rail link to the Channel Tunnel.
From 2009 this line will also allow for high speed domestic travel from Kent into London.
The redevelopment of St.
Pancras was key to London's Olympic bid, as the station also serves two international airports through Thameslink, and will also provide direct rail links to the Olympic site at Stratford using British Rail Class 395 trains running under the Olympic Javelin name; these will be based on Japanese Shinkansen high-speed trains.
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Buses
London's bus network is one of the largest in the world, running 24 hours a day, with 8,000 buses, 700 bus routes, and over 6 million passenger journeys made every weekday.
In 2003, the network's ridership was estimated at over 1.5 billion passenger trips per annum, more than the Underground.
Around ÂŁ850 m is taken in revenue each year.
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London has the largest wheelchair accessible network in the world and, from the 3rd quarter of 2007, became more accessible to hearing and visually impaired passengers as audio-visual announcements were introduced.
The distinctive red double-decker buses are internationally recognised, and are a trademark of London transport along with black cabs and the Tube.
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Air
London is a major international air transport hub.
Eight airports use the words London Airport in their name, but most traffic passes through one of five major airports.
London Heathrow Airport is the busiest airport in the world for international traffic, and is the major hub of the nation's flag carrier, British Airways.
In March 2008 its fifth terminal was opened, and plans are already being considered for a sixth terminal.
Similar traffic, with the addition of some low-cost short-haul flights, is also handled at London Gatwick Airport.
London Stansted Airport and London Luton Airport cater mostly for low-cost short-haul flights.
London City Airport, the smallest and most central airport, is focused on business travellers, with a mixture of full service short-haul scheduled flights and considerable business jet traffic.
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Roads
M25 is a Circular Ring that goes around London; it's also the largest circular motorway of the world.
Although the majority of journeys involving central London are made by public transport, travel in outer London is car-dominated.
The inner ring road (around the city centre), the North and South Circular roads (in the suburbs), and the outer orbital motorway (the M25, outside the built-up area) encircle the city and are intersected by a number of busy radial routes—but very few motorways penetrate into inner London.
A plan for a comprehensive network of motorways throughout the city (the Ringways Plan) was prepared in the 1960s but was mostly cancelled in the early 1970s.
In 2003, a congestion charge was introduced to reduce traffic volumes in the city centre.
With a few exceptions, motorists are required to pay ÂŁ8 per day to drive within a defined zone encompassing much of congested central London.
Motorists who are residents of the defined zone can buy a vastly reduced season pass which is renewed monthly and is cheaper than a corresponding bus fare.
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