London Transportation Tips by mwe

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: I find "The Tube" (London Underground) is an excellent way to sprint around the various areas of central London & also to travel between the centre of London & many of its suburbs.

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Website: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: London has an 'orbital' or 'beltway' motorway called the M25, separating the built up area around London from its rural surroundings. There are about 32 junctions linking it to linear motorways & roads to take you to other parts of the UK, or back into London.
The busiest part of the M25 (the western section near Heathrow Airport) has variable speed limits, enforced by cameras, which seems an effective solution to crashes caused by traffic suddenly slowing when the road is congested.

Within Greater London, the North & South Circular roads (A406 & A205) is London's main artery between the inner & outer suburbs. The North Circular is as close as Britain's linear motorway network gets into London: the M11 to Cambridge, M1 to Yorkshire & M4 to Wales (via Windsor) all start from junctions on the North Circular.

There is a daytime Congestion Charge for cars & commercial vehicles in central London, which operates on most roads south of the A501 & east of Hyde Park (THE AREA EXPANDED w.e.f. FEB.19TH, 2007. SEE ATTACHED WEBLINK). There's no real need to drive in central London (especially if you are a tourist from overseas, or on a day-trip or mini-break from elsewhere in the UK). London has 10 national rail terminals, all linked to London Underground & bus routes.

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Website: http://www.cclondon.com

'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: London has 10 Inter-City railway terminals, all located on the outer edge of central London & linked into the city & west end via the Tube network & bus routes.
One of these terminals, Waterloo (joined shortly by St.Pancras), has 186 MPH Eurostar trains direct to continental Europe.
The British Inter City service is run by private companies such as Virgin & First Great Western running 125 MPH diesel services.
Some train services are electric, including GNER's 130 MPH trains, which do London to York in exactly 2 hours.
Heathrow Airport (LHR) is served by the Heathrow Express train from Paddington. There is also a bus service linking central London & LHR, as well as a service via the London Underground.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: London's premier airport is Heathrow (LHR), 15 miles from central London on London's western extremity. LHR started doing passenger flights in 1946 & has been open in its recognisably present day form since 1955.
LHR has 5 passenger terminals: 1, 2 (domestic & European flights) & 3 (long-haul) are in the central area of the airport, reached by road tunnel, or Underground trains. Terminal 4 (mainly BA flights) is on the south side of LHR & T5 is on the western perimeter of LHR.

London's second airport is Gatwick (LGW), located to the south on the Surrey/West Sussex county boundary. It's main terminal (South Terminal) opened in 1958. The 2nd terminal (North) opened in 1988. LGW has a mainline railway station, with services to London & other parts of the UK. By road it's reached by the M23 motorway, or A23 Brighton Road.

London has 3 other airports: Luton (to the northwest), Stansted (to the NE) & London City.
Detailed facts on London's airports can be found by clicking the weblink below.

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Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Heathrow_Airport

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: Of course it's easy to get buses on pictures you take in central London. However, the buses are usually partly obscured by other traffic and people.
This is a rare, unobscured picture of a 1965 AEC Routemaster.

Routemasters were never meant to last as long as they have done, but they became icons of London, so they have been kept going with the kind of ingenuity that's kept 1950s cars going on the highways of Cuba.

The bus in the picture has the registration number CUV 281C.
The end letter (C) denotes a vehicle first registered in 1965.
"UV" is one of a series which denotes a vehicle registered in London.
"281" is this vehicle's individual number & the first C is simply a continuity letter: the system goes CUU 999C, then CUV 1C to CUV 999C, then CUW 1C, etc..

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Website: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: Taxi's are a popular way to travel in London, although more expensive than buses and underground trains.

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Website: http:/www.tfl.gov.uk/modalpages/2680.aspx