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Transport Tips Tube Or Bus
Transport Tips Tube Or Bus
Tube Or Bus
Travel around town is likely to focus mainly on these two modes of transport. Tubes cover the longer distances, buses are good for hopping.
In general buses work best for ‘hops’. Oxford Street is a conveyor belt of red buses with shoppers jumping aboard for a stop or two, then alighting. All stops have a list of bus numbers which stop there (on the sign) and attached nearby will be a route summary and timetable. Look for a number going your way and when it approaches put your hand out. If no-one’s getting out and you don’t hail, it doesn’t have to stop.
Buy your ticket before getting on board (there are machines at busy stops). Or if you have a travelcard, hold it up for the driver on entry, so they can read the date and zones. Take a seat. Upstairs at the front of a double-decker is the best.
To get off ‘ding’ the bell before your stop (give them time to react). There are lots of buttons all over the bus and a sign will illuminate stating that the bus will be stopping at the next stop.
Got on the wrong bus? Don’t worry, just get off at the next stop. Distances between stops are small, so you won’t have to go far to correct an error.
How long until my bus? Busy central stops have minute counters, so you’ll know how long to wait.
Tip: it’s best not to ask long and convoluted questions of the drivers, as they run a tight ship. Also there are signs indicating not to disturb them while the bus is in motion. It really is in no-one’s interest to distract them.
Get a Travelcard, as mentioned earlier. It’s much cheaper and takes the calculation out of journey costs.
The Tube handles over a billion passenger journeys a year. There are 270 stations and the oldest line: the Metropolitan, opened in 1863. When the escalators were first introduced (in 1911), they had to employ people to travel on them all day, to encourage their use. Some of the lines have curved platforms, meaning there is a space between the carriage and platform – which is why you’ll hear the warning ‘mind the gap’ at some stations (Bank: Central, Piccadilly Circus: Bakerloo).The most popular journey is Leicester Square to Covent Garden, which is also the shortest and ironically, the only one where it’s quicker to get out and walk.
It’s best to get a portable map (from a ticket booth and most hotels) and have an idea where you’re going before you start. If not there are plenty of maps around at the entrances, and near the ticket barriers.
The ticket at the barrier goes magnetic side down into the slot, at about waist height. Oyster cards are swiped over the readers, near the gate.
Follow the signs to your platform. The convention is to stand on the right on escalators. Someone’s always in a hurry and the left-side of the escalator is for movement.
When you get to your platform, spread along it, the carriages are less busy that way. Doors open automatically at all stations – so ignore the ‘open’ button. You let passengers off first, before getting aboard.
Some seats are reserved for disabled passengers, pregnant mothers and the elderly. These are clearly marked.
There is a line map above every set of windows in the carriage, if you need to check your journey. When you leave, look for the exit signs or arrows pointing to the line you need to change to on the platform.
Exit the barriers. If the ‘seek assistance’ light illuminates, there will be a nearby inspector to assist you.
That’s it!
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Bus
The bus map and timetable for London is a beautiful thing to behold, but a work of towering complexity.In general buses work best for ‘hops’. Oxford Street is a conveyor belt of red buses with shoppers jumping aboard for a stop or two, then alighting. All stops have a list of bus numbers which stop there (on the sign) and attached nearby will be a route summary and timetable. Look for a number going your way and when it approaches put your hand out. If no-one’s getting out and you don’t hail, it doesn’t have to stop.
Buy your ticket before getting on board (there are machines at busy stops). Or if you have a travelcard, hold it up for the driver on entry, so they can read the date and zones. Take a seat. Upstairs at the front of a double-decker is the best.
To get off ‘ding’ the bell before your stop (give them time to react). There are lots of buttons all over the bus and a sign will illuminate stating that the bus will be stopping at the next stop.
Got on the wrong bus? Don’t worry, just get off at the next stop. Distances between stops are small, so you won’t have to go far to correct an error. How long until my bus? Busy central stops have minute counters, so you’ll know how long to wait.
Tip: it’s best not to ask long and convoluted questions of the drivers, as they run a tight ship. Also there are signs indicating not to disturb them while the bus is in motion. It really is in no-one’s interest to distract them.
Tube
The Tube map is comprehensive and has won numerous design awards for the simplicity with which it conveys so many routes. Each line has a colour. So look for the key at the bottom – e.g. Charing Cross and it will tell you where it appears on the map and also which line.Get a Travelcard, as mentioned earlier. It’s much cheaper and takes the calculation out of journey costs.
The Tube handles over a billion passenger journeys a year. There are 270 stations and the oldest line: the Metropolitan, opened in 1863. When the escalators were first introduced (in 1911), they had to employ people to travel on them all day, to encourage their use. Some of the lines have curved platforms, meaning there is a space between the carriage and platform – which is why you’ll hear the warning ‘mind the gap’ at some stations (Bank: Central, Piccadilly Circus: Bakerloo).The most popular journey is Leicester Square to Covent Garden, which is also the shortest and ironically, the only one where it’s quicker to get out and walk.
It’s best to get a portable map (from a ticket booth and most hotels) and have an idea where you’re going before you start. If not there are plenty of maps around at the entrances, and near the ticket barriers.
The ticket at the barrier goes magnetic side down into the slot, at about waist height. Oyster cards are swiped over the readers, near the gate.
Follow the signs to your platform. The convention is to stand on the right on escalators. Someone’s always in a hurry and the left-side of the escalator is for movement. When you get to your platform, spread along it, the carriages are less busy that way. Doors open automatically at all stations – so ignore the ‘open’ button. You let passengers off first, before getting aboard.
Some seats are reserved for disabled passengers, pregnant mothers and the elderly. These are clearly marked.
There is a line map above every set of windows in the carriage, if you need to check your journey. When you leave, look for the exit signs or arrows pointing to the line you need to change to on the platform.
Exit the barriers. If the ‘seek assistance’ light illuminates, there will be a nearby inspector to assist you.
That’s it!
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
