Tube etiquette in London

Here are a list of basic rules of etiquette to follow when travelling on the tube in London – they’ll help ensure that you don’t get pushed or sworn at, any more than is the norm! I once had a friend visiting me in London, who was stood blocking the exit of the tube because she was wearing a massive backpack – she wondered why people were getting so mad with her, but never thought to step off the tube to let people get past. Read these tube Ps & Qs to make sure you don’t end up as unpopular as her with your fellow passengers!!!

1. If you’re listening to your music on the tube, that’s fine, but try to make sure that no-one else can hear it. Do a quick test by taking out your earphones and seeing if you can hear your music through them. Alternatively, buy a pair of quality Noise Isolating Earphones to make sure no noise escapes.
2. On escalators, always stand on the right. The left-hand ‘lane’ is for those people in a hurry who wish to walk up or down the escalator.
3. When you pass through tube barriers, always keep walking for a few paces, so you don’t block the exit of the barrier for the person following you. This applies both when entering and exiting the underground.
4. Always have your ticket/Oyster card ready, well before approaching the ticket barriers.
5. On tube platforms, spread out – you’ll often find that the front or rear of the tube will be the least crowded but people tend to swarm towards the middle section. 
6. Don’t cross the yellow line – people do it all the time, but if you want to remain safe, then avoid crossing it.
7. Once inside the tube carriage – if you’re lucky enough to get a seat, ensure that there isn’t a pregnant, elderly or disabled person who needs it more than you.
8. It is common, but certainly not compulsory for a man to offer a vacant seat to a woman, rather than take it for himself. However, it would be unusual for a man to stand up to let a woman sit in a seat he’s already occupying.
9. If you’re in a packed tube carriage and are stood next to the doors when people want to leave the train, it is polite to step off the train briefly, to allow passengers to leave, before getting back on. If you do this, then be sure not to let passengers who have been waiting on the platform muscle past you. You’ve done a good deed, but don’t get walked over in the process.
10. If you’re wearing a rucksack, or any other type of bulky bag, take it off and put it on the floor. If you don’t, you’ll lose your spatial awareness and keep bashing into people behind you that you didn’t realize were there.
11. Never take up a spare tube seat by putting your bags/other belongings all over it.
12. Never try to squeeze two people onto one seat, unless you’re carrying a small child. Girls sitting on their boyfriends knees are just annoying.
13. When it’s busy, don’t crowd around the door exits - if there is space in the aisles, then stand there. There is a handrail to hold on to and you’re more likely to grab a vacant seat when people get up.
14. Drinking alcohol on the tube is not allowed.
15. It is recommended that you don’t eat food that is particularly messy or smelly on the tube so as not to upset your fellow passengers.
16. Do not leave your bags unattended. Since 7/7, passengers are extremely nervous, with good reason, about unattended bags and may well alert the driver if they see a bag that appears to be abandoned. This will cause a security alert, which you don’t want to be the cause of. 

Travelling from London airports to central London

If you’re flying into London from another country, or on an internal flight, you’ll end up at one of 5 London Airports – Luton, Stansted, Gatwick, Heathrow or London City airport. Some of these airports are actually quite a few miles out of London, in neighboring home counties. However, due to huge demand, there are some wonderfully speedy train and bus services to transport you into Central London in no time at all.

Travelling from Luton Airport into Central London
Bus/coach companies
Terravision(£13 single)
easyBus (as low as £2 single)
National Express (£14 single)
Greenline 757 (£14 single) 
The approximate journey time will be between 65-75 minutes, depending on traffic.
Train companies
A shuttle bus takes you 5 minutes away from the airport terminal building to Luton Airport Parkway station, which has regular links into St. Pancras and the City on the Thameslink line. The journey time is little over 20 minutes.

Travelling from Stansted Airport into Central London
Bus/coach companies
easyBus (as low as £2 single)
Orbis Air Link (£12.50 single to Hammersmith, Ealing or Acton)
National Express (£8.50-£10.50 single to Stratford or Victoria)
Terravision (£9 to Victoria or Liverpool Street)
Snowdrop (£15 to various hotels in Kings Cross, Russell Square, Piccadilly, Bayswater or Earls Court).
Depending on which part of London is your destination, the journey time will be as short as 45 minutes to Stratford, but 110 minutes to Hammersmith, Ealing or Acton.
Train companies
Stansted Express – frequent trains every 15 minutes (single £18 to London Liverpool Street). Interchanges with tube available at Tottenham Hale en route. 
National Express East Anglia – one train an hour to Stratford station (£17 single).

Travelling from Gatwick Airport into Central London
Bus/coach companies
easyBus to Fulham (as low as £2 single)
National Express to London Victoria (£7.50 single)
Your approximate journey time will be around 80 minutes.
Train companies
Gatwick Express – to London Victoria (£16.90 single)
Southern Trains to London Victoria – 4 trains an hour (as low as £3 if booked in advance)
First Capital Connect to (as low as £7.90 if booked in advance) – 4-5 trains an hour.
Journey time is approximately 30 minutes.

Travelling from Heathrow Airport into Central London 
The most obvious way to travel into Central London from Heathrow is to use the London Underground. Heathrow has two stations on the Piccadilly line and you can be in Central London in around 20 minutes. Tickets are available through Oyster.
Bus/coach companies
National Express – to London Victoria (£5.50 single)
Dot2Dot – to any address in Central London or Canary Wharf (£20 single)
Train companies
Heathrow Express to London Paddington (£16.50 single)
Heathrow Connect to London Paddington (£6.90 single)
Journey time is as short as 15 minutes with the Express service.

Travelling from London City Airport into Central London
The airport is located in East London, near the O2 area, so is ideally placed for those visiting East London and the Docklands.
Use the DLR service at London City Airport DLR station to connect to Bank in 22 minutes, or Canning Town for National Rail routes within 7 minutes. More information on DLR available at www.moove2london.co.uk/transport.html

Huge increase in transport fares in London

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has announced some huge increases in transport fares, in order to raise an extra £125 million in the next year.

He claims that the need for these increases, which he describes as being ‘tough medicine’ for Londoners to swallow, is due to the current economic climate as well as needing to rectify past mistakes.

The congestion charge will increase by 25% to £10, unless paying by a regular automated service, in which case it will be £9.

Other key increases include

• Oyster pay-as-you-go bus fares increasing from £1 to £1.20
• Single tube journey increasing 20p to £1.80
• The daily cap on Oyster tube and bus fares increases by 50p
• A 7-day bus pass rises from £13.80 to £16.60

Read his full message to Londoners, including a video message on the Mayor’s official website.