London Underground and Rail Networks

London Underground (The Tube)

London has several types of train, luckily they are all covered by a single governing body so tickets are valid across the network. You will have no doubt heard of the tube or underground, this covers a huge area of London and you will often not need to use any other mode of transport. 

The downside of the tube is that it is crowded, dirty and prone to breakdowns. This is due to the age of the system, parts of which have been operating since Queen Victoria was on the throne. Much of the maintenance work is carried out over night, so the system shuts down at midnight most of the time. However it is extremely fast, trains arrive every 2-5 minutes and it can get you almost anywhere across the central part of London, often within metres of where you need to be. 

Over Ground Rail Network 

There are also over ground trains, which generally run from outside the capital to and from the major stations such as Kings Cross, Liverpool Street, Victoria etc. These often serve the suburban areas of the city and are generally cheaper, but offer a less frequent service. From the major station it is possible to reach most parts of the country such as Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff or even Edinburgh in a matter of hours. Inter city fares can be expensive and it is advisable to plan well in advance.  

DLR       

The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is a relatively new system, created to serve the regenerated Docklands area of London, which includes Canary Wharf and the Millennium Dome.

This is a fast clean service of driverless mono-rails which connects to the underground system. Any tickets bought can generally be used on all these services, unless of course you aren’t heading for the destination for which you bought your ticket. There are a number of different travel cards, which cover whole areas of London and can offer discounted fares. See the Oyster and Travel Card Section.