Be Informed And In Control Using London’s Underground / Metro System
Earls Court Underground Station
Official Web Site of the London Underground
For the visitor to London the Underground or Tube will probably be the transport of choice to get around town. The Underground is normally the fastest way to get around town, often much faster than any taxi.
There is invariably an underground station nearby where you want to go and also your hotel, (there are currently 12 underground lines) and finding yourself around the system really is very easy.
Key points about the London’s Underground are:
The authorities penalise you heavily for buying single journey tickets. (In the very centre you can pay more than double the price than if you used an Oyster Card for example).
A single journey on the London Underground can involve 1 or 2 changes of train. Your journey starts when you go through the ticket barrier of the station entrance you depart from and finishes when you pass through the ticket barrier at the exit of your destination. You cannot break a journey on a single fare, once you go though an exit barrier of a station that is journey completed.
The buses, Underground, DLR and London suburban trains are managed by a central government body called Transport For London chaired by the mayor of London. The transport passes that nearly everyone uses, Oyster and Travelcard, allow you to travel seamlessly across all modes of transport, bus, Underground, train and DLR using the same ticket/pass.
Children under 11 travel free on the London Underground and DLR (Docklands Light Railway) at all times. Child fares are available for those under 16 and it is possible to get discounted fares if you are under 18 or studying in London with an ID card.
There are no seniors fares for visitors. If you reside in London and are over 60 you can get a pass that makes free bus and Underground travel available. If you have an English National Concessionary bus pass you cannot use it on the London Underground, ( but you can use it on London’s red buses).
Very crudely the London Underground is closed from around midnight until around 5 a.m. getting started a little later on Sundays. In Central London there is a very good night bus network when the Underground is closed.
You will rarely have to wait more than 5 minutes for an Underground train at any time of the day.