Planning A Weekend In London? Make Sure You Know How To Use The Tube
In most major cities around the world today, there is some form of reliable public transport system
. It may be a bus network that offers almost 24 hour coverage or it could be cheap and affordable inner city taxis. It might even be reduced cost bicycles, as is becoming popular in several cities.Arguably the most convenient and reliable of all city transport systems, however, is the underground option - and London's Tube is reputedly the best of them all.
First opening in 1863 with the Metropolitan Line, over the past century and a half a further 10 lines were added and the 11 lines currently serve 270 individual stations and provide access to London and the surrounding areas to approximately 3 million people on a daily basis (information provided by Transport for London from 2008).
Whilst it may be used heavily by commuters and London residents, all of whom seem to have a good grasp of which line goes where and what station is best for them to get on and off at, it's a fantastic transport system to use if you're a tourist to the city and can be understood in just a matter of minutes if you take the time to familiarise yourself with it.
What you first need to understand about the Tube is that you're highly unlikely to need to use every line on your trip, so start by looking at a Tube map and finding out which stations are near to your hotel or any points of interest that you're going to be visiting (the hotel and attraction's websites will no doubt say which station is nearest).
From here you need to work out where you're going to be travelling from. For an example, we'll use King's Cross St Pancras Station, as most trains within London run directly to this station.
If you were staying in, for instance, Bayswater, you have various options to travel on the Tube from King's Cross to Bayswater station.
The easiest option would be to take the yellow or pink lines - Circle or Hammersmith and City Line - to Edgware Road, before jumping on the yellow or green lines - Circle or District Line - until you reach Bayswater.
Alternatively, you could take the light blue line - the Victoria Line - and travel to Oxford Circus, where you would change onto the red line - the Central Line - and travel to Notting Hill Gate, before jumping on either the yellow or green lines - Circle or District Line - until you reach Bayswater.
And it really is that simple; just as it's made out to be on the map.
The most difficult point to remember is that a lot of stations have access to several different lines, meaning you just have to ensure that you're standing on the right platform - and it's difficult to not do this, as there are huge signs saying which stations the Tube you're waiting for stops at.
The whole process is so easy it's not even worth spending a lot of time looking at how you pay. Either choose a single ticket to get you to and from one station (which varies depending on which zones the stations are in, which can be clearly seen on the map) or buy an Oyster card, which is a prepaid card that gives you discounted fares.
It might take a few minutes for you to adjust to how the London Underground system works, but if you spend the time doing so, you'll soon realise just how fantastic it is.
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