Transport for London

Transport for London -  TfL  -
Area of ​​responsibility in England
State level	Executive agency in the Greater London Authority
Position of the authority	Traffic authority
legal form	Public corporation
Supervisory authority (s)	Chairman : Mayor of London Sadiq Khan
Consist	July 3, 2000 (Greater London Authority Act 1999)
Arose from	London Regional Transport
Headquarters	Windsor House, Victoria Street, Westminster , London SW1H 0TL
household	2015-16: £ 11.5 billion (40% of which from ticket revenue)
Commissioner	Mike Brown
Employee	28,000
Website	tfl.gov.uk

Transport for London is located at Windsor House

Transport for London , or TfL for short , is the umbrella organization that has been coordinating the transport system in London since 2001 . A committee reporting directly to the Mayor of London leads TfL. The Commissioner of Transport for London acts as executive director and is responsible to the committee.

Areas of responsibility

TfL is divided into three main directorates, which are responsible for certain types of transport .

• London Underground , responsible for the operation of the London Underground. The maintenance was originally privatized to the companies Metronet and Tube Lines ; After severe cost overruns and the bankruptcy of Metronet, this partial privatization was reversed in 2010. For the purpose of operation, the network is divided into three sub-networks:
  • BCV: Bakerloo Line , Central Line , Victoria Line , Waterloo & City Line
  • JNP: Jubilee Line , Northern Line , Piccadilly Line
  • SSR (Sub Surface Railway): Metropolitan Line , District Line , Circle Line , Hammersmith & City Line

• London Rail, responsible for
  • Coordinates with railway companies that provide rail services within London as part of National Rail
  • London Overground , the operation by a private franchisee and maintenance by Network Rail takes place
  • TfL Rail , the operation as the Overground by a private franchisee and maintenance by Network Rail takes place
  • Docklands Light Railway , operated and maintained by a private franchisee
  • London Trams, granting of operating concessions for the London light rail / tram (previously only Tramlink in the south of the city)

• Surface Transport, consisting of
  • London Buses: Coordination of the city bus network throughout London and granting of line concessions to private bus companies (→ List of bus routes in London )
  • London Dial-a-Ride: on- call bus system for people with disabilities
  • London River Services: Licensing and coordination of passenger shipping on the Thames in London
  • London Streets: Maintenance of the main main streets
  • London Congestion Charge
  • Public Carriage Office: Licensing the famous black taxis and other private taxi companies
  • Victoria Coach Station : London's main terminal for regional and intercity buses
  • Cycling Center of Excellence: Promoting cycling in London and awarding the concession to Santander Cycles
  • Walking, responsible for better access for pedestrians
  • London Road Safety Unit, responsible for promoting road safety
  • Community Safety, Enforcement and Policing, responsible for ticket controls on buses and cooperation with the Metropolitan Police Service and the British Transport Police
  • Traffic Enforcement, responsible for enforcing traffic rules on major main roads
  • Freight Unit, responsible for developing a freight transport plan

TfL also owns and operates the London Transport Museum (LTM) in Covent Garden . This transport museum deals with the history of transport in London. There is also an extensive museum depot in Acton that is only open for a few weekends.

Rates

Most transport which are under the control of Transport for London, have their own tariff system for single trips . London Buses city buses and Tramlink use a common tariff system, as do London Underground and Docklands Light Railway. A specific price applies depending on the exact route, the means of transport used and the time of day.

In addition to these transport-specific tariff systems for single journeys, there is a tariff zone system ( travel zones ). Here are season tickets ( Travelcards , valid from one day to one year), also available with subscription. These are valid on the Docklands Light Railway, the London Underground, in city buses, regional rail connections and the Tramlink, and to a certain extent also on shipping lines. As a special feature, travelcards are generally valid on all buses throughout the city during the period of validity.

The Oyster-Card is a contactless chip card system with which single trips can be carried out with prepaid credit (“Pay-as-you-go”) or time cards can be loaded. There is a daily maximum limit for single trips depending on the zones crossed, so that additional trips within the same day are not billed.

Since 2014, contactless Mastercard , Visa , American Express and Maestro cards such as Oyster cards can be used for pay-as-you-go single trips. There is not only a daily, but also a weekly maximum limit.

Zone 1 essentially comprises the boroughs of the City of London and City of Westminster . Zones 2-6 are concentric around it and cover the rest of Greater London . Zones 7–9 include all underground stations outside Greater London. There is also the special zone London Trams (all stations) and outside zones without a designation in which the TfL tariff applies. TfL Rail also serves train stations outside the TfL tariff system. The National Rail tariff applies there and Oyster Cards are not recognized. On the other hand, in self-operated rail transport (e.g. Heathrow Express , Gatwick Express and long-distance trains) within the TfL area, Oyster cards and TfL tickets are accepted despite their own tariff.

London traffic history

Up until 1933 there was no overall coordination of the various modes of transport. This changed on July 1, 1933 with the establishment of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB). This public authority took over control of all underground trains and trams as well as almost all buses. In 1948 the LPTB became the newly created London Transport Executive (LTE). She was part of the British Transport Commission , which was also responsible for British Railways . In 1963, LTE came under the name of London Transport Board (LTB) under the direct responsibility of the British Minister of Transport.

From 1970 to 1984 the Greater London Council (GLC) was responsible for the bus routes in Greater London and the London Underground. The administrative department created for this purpose was the London Transport Executive (GLC) . In 1984 the public service company London Regional Transport (LRT) was founded, as the GLC was to be dissolved two years later. In 1985, LRT outsourced London Underground to its subsidiary London Underground Limited (LUL). After the privatization of bus transport at the end of the 1980s, LRT gave the concession for the bus routes advertised. In 2000, TfL replaced the LRT and took over most of the tasks and modes of transport from this organization as a directing company.

The Public Carriage Office was originally a division of the Metropolitan Police Service; the maintenance of the main roads was previously the responsibility of the British government and the individual London boroughs . Both areas of responsibility were also transferred to TfL in 2000. The London Underground network was not transferred to TfL until 2003.

literature

• Green, Oliver and Reed, John: The London Transport Golden Jubilee Book (1933–1983) , The Daily Telegraph, London 1983. ISBN 0-901684-96-1 (born) and ISBN 0-901684-86-4 ( paperback)

Web links

Commons : Transport for London  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website TfL (English)
• TfL visitor information (English) The site can be switched to German. To do this, select the Travel information in your language option . The language can be set in the Google menu at the bottom left of the page. Google translates the English text into the selected language, although the quality of the translation can be improved.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Projects and Planning Panel, Project Monitoring papers . Transport for London. January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.