If you live or visit London you can’t get away from TFL: Transport for London. Most people complain about it, but the truth is moving around London can be very easy, if you know how!
A lot of our students ask us about paying, how the Oyster works and what time transport works, if children have to pay, and many more things. So today we are starting a series of posts all about tips on using the tube, the bus, the train and all other forms of public transport available in London. And there may be more than you think!
The official name of the Tube is London Underground, but people just call it the Tube because it looks like a long tube. This nickname can even be found on official ads and papers.
The Tube system is so large that it has 270 stations and in some places it goes out of London into Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire! But when it first opened in 1863 there was only one short line from Bishop’s Road (now Paddington) to Farringdon Street (now Farringdon), and it only had 7 stops. It was so popular that after a few months extensions began construction and in 10 years it already had 26 stops.
At first people where scared of the underground, but it is actually one of the safest (and fastest) ways to travel. In over 150 years since the Tube opened there has only been 8 serious accidents, that’s 1 every 19 years and most of those only caused minor injuries to passengers.
You always need to pay to use the Tube. If you don’t pay you can get fined up to £80 plus the price of the ticket. And if you use the wrong ticket you can even be considered a criminal and you have to go to court.
If you are travelling with kids, children under 11 travel for free (use the big gates to get in and out). Children between 11 and 15 pay a reduced fare but they need a special Oyster card, you can ask about this at any station.
There’s basically two ticket types: single trip and travel card. And there’s also three ways to pay: paper, oyster and contact-less.
If you know you are going to be moving around a lot but still need flexibility because you don’t really know which ones you’re going to or how much you’re actually going to travel, then a contact-less is your best option. It will always work out the best fare for the day. And it has has a Monday to Sunday cap, so you end up paying the same as a weekly travel card, and it always works out the cheapest option for you.
All lines start and finish at different times, but most start at around 5 am and finish at 1 am.
Some parts of the Tube operate a 24-hour service: the Jubilee and Victoria line, and some sections of the Central, Northern and Piccadilly.
And one extra tip: people are in a rush, if they’re rude to you, just ignore them!
Do you have any tips for using the Tube? Tell us in the comments.