transit network of the week . london

. the underground . the tube . mind the gap .
london is home to the world's oldest and longest underground railway. it was first operated in 1863, and now has roughly 270 stations and over 250 miles of track, and is still expanding. there are currently 11 "underground" lines (though 55% of these tracks are actually above ground) in operation. transport for london's website states that there are over 3.5 million passenger trips made each week. london's transit network includes more than just underground trains--they also have bus, light rail (docklands light railway), heavy rail, commuter rail, and tram systems. the london overground network (commuter rail) began operation in 2007 and is rapidly growing.

the rail track orientation is left-side driving, just like england's automobile traffic. their trains are run on a unique four-rail system (two rails for the track itself, one rail for the electrical contact (often overhead wires in other systems), and a fourth rail for the electrical return (which prevents return currents from improperly running through the iron tunnel lining). in many cases, the underground network runs 20 miles or more away from central london in nearly all directions. it's no wonder that the underground counted over one billion passengers per year in each of the last few years.

as shown in the photo above (taken at one of london's heathrow airport stations in 2008), the underground uses real-time countdown signs to alert passengers of the next-train arrival times. london has excellent customer information. beyond next-train arrivals, they provide service alerts, mobile journey planning capabilities, live travel news, timetables, web departure boards, advanced trip planner software, and much more. their features can be found on their website, shown to the right.

london's transit fares are assessed by zone, and passengers are thus required to scan their ticket upon entry and exit of the stations (similar to dc). for discounted transit rates, an 'oyster card' can be used, which is a stored-value card that carries a balance. fares are assessed and automatically deducted from the card when a passenger taps their card to the sensor upon exit. fares are considerably cheaper when using an oyster card (£1.60 vs. £4.00 for a paper ticket for zone 1 trips). oyster cards can also be used for bus, tram, and light rail trips.

one can't talk about london transit and not mention the bus system, famous for its bright red double-decker buses. there are over 700 bus routes (no, really), which can be confusing, but for the most part, they are surprisingly well-organized. the system includes over 100 overnight routes, making transit easy for london passengers to get around town in the wee hours of the morning. and in my opinion, there's no better (or cheaper) way for a tourist to get a quick overview of central london than to take an afternoon ride and peer out over the streets of london from a second-level seat on a public bus. (photo from my first visit to london in 2004.)

worst thing about london transit:
i'm tempted to mention the high transit fares here, but it's truthfully not inflated over the high costs of anything in london...so i'll have to go with the summer heat of the trains and stations. the trains are not air conditioned, and a high of 117 degrees farenheit on a train was recorded during a heat wave.

best thing about london transit:
the history. not only is the history appealing for a transit geek like me to have the novelty of knowing i'm riding the tube, the oldest underground network in the world--the long transit history also means that they've been in the transit business for a long time and they've got it down. their system technology is cutting edge, and they've stayed ahead of the curve as transit operations go.