Portal:London Transport/About London Transport
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
London forms the hub of the road, rail and air transport 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 airports including the UK's busiest, Heathrow, and a sea port.
London's internal transport is one of four policy areas administered by the Mayor of London through his executive agency Transport for London (TfL). TfL controls the majority of public transport in the area (including the Underground, local buses, trams and the Docklands Light Railway, but it currently has virtually no control over National Rail services within Greater London, which are administered by the national Department for Transport (DfT). TfL also controls most major roads in the area, but not minor roads.
Transport for London operates two railway systems distinct from the conventional surface railway network. The most important is the London Underground, which is supplemented by the automated and segregated Docklands Light Railway operating in East and South-East London. TfL also operates one tramway system, Tramlink centred on Croydon with lines to Wimbledon, New Addington and Beckenham. Like the road network, a flaw in London's under- and over-ground railways is that they radiate out to the suburbs from the centre. Whilst obviously neccesary given the huge volume of commuters, it means that attempting to travel across London rather than through it by rail is an overly complex and slow task. This problem is being reduced by the introduction of Tramlink and other proposed railway projects.
