Student in London

Introduction

2006-12-31T12:59:00.000-08:00

Hello to all, I'm currently a University student in London and I hope this developing guide will help any future students, local and foreign to adapt to life in London.

The transport authorities here literally give you essays which are hard to digest. I'll be trying to simplify and give other rarely-noticed information.

I plan to diversify into other topics after the transport section is complete.

This blog is inspired by a friend who made a guide when he was in Japan.
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Navigation
Here is a list of articles that I have written so far:

Getting around London: Bus
The London Underground
New! Ways to save: Travelcards and Oystercards

Ways to save: Travelcards & Oystercards

2005-10-16T16:15:00.001-07:00

Apologies: There are some font size problems. I'm no HTML programmer so I blame Blogspot's flawed rich text editor 100% for this.

Travelcards
Travelcards come in useful if you plan take multiple forms of public transport in a short period.
Picture of Travelcard (1 day, Zones 1-6, Off-Peak).

A travelcard can be valid from a day to a year, depending on the kind you pick. You can also pick which of the 6 zones that you want your travelcard to cover, so check in advance which zones are required for our travel!

How does a travelcard work? Say if you have a one day Zone 1-2 Travelcard, you have an unlimited number of journeys on public transport within zones 1-2. The variables are the zones you pick and the length of validity, but a travelcard simply gives you unlimited travel where its valid.

Cards are cheaper off-peak, after 9:30am on weekdays and all day on weekends. Prices for each kind of card can be found HERE.

Example: My journey requires 1 tube ride and 1 bus ride each way between Zones 1-2.
A return trip means 4 separate journeys. Working with the cheapest prices for single journeys (oyster pre pay):

Tube: £2.10 x 2 = £4.20 return.
Bus: £0.80 x 2 = £1.60 return.
Your journey with single tickets will cost a total of £5.80.

The off-peak day travelcard (zones 1-2) costs £4.70, a saving of £1.20 over single tickets!

Oystercards
An Oystercard is basically a plastic card with an embedded microchip. There are several kinds of Oysters but I will stick with the simplest form which is also the most useful in Central London.
Picture of Oystercard

An Oyster "Prepay" card can be purchased with a £3 (refundable if you don't lose the card) deposit plus the mininum storage value of £5 at the start, total £8. Using this card on the Tube and Bus makes journeys cheaper. A single bus journey costs £1.20 standard but only £0.80 with Oyster! Same thing works for the Tube.

You "touch in" your card every time you take the tube/board the bus against a machine with the Oyster logo for payment.

"Capping"
If you travel on the Tube and Bus, the max value you get deducted in 1 day is the price of the equivalent travelcard. If you take the tube 10 times between zones 1-2, (worth over £20 in singles), you will still only get deducted a MAX of £4.70 (£6 if peak hours), the price of a Zone 1-2 day travelcard!

If you only travel on the bus, then the "capping" value is £3 a day, the price of a 1-day bus pass!

All this makes the "Travelcards" I explained earlier seem obsolete. This is not the case as Oysters unfortunately are not valid on overground "National Rail" services (very few exceptions). Travelcards are however valid on "National Rail".

Example: I take "National Rail" to South London every week. I take Tube->National Rail and the reverse on return. My Oystercard cannot be used on "National Rail" so I buy a 1-day travelcard(because it's cheaper than single tickets).

Once the value "stored" in your card reaches zero or a negative value, you *have* to refill it. The best place to do it is a Tube station although some small newagents also provide top-up services. "Pre-pay" is the key word. You "Pre-pay" by topping up your card in advance before travelling.

The London Underground

2005-10-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

London has an Underground system, commonly known as "The Tube" and can halve journey times compared with the bus. It is costly however.

The tube has a variety of different lines, distinguished by the different colours.

The Tube system map: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/colourmap.gif
This is available at every station, on the wall and as leaflets(taking one is essential).

Tickets
Single Tickets(and other kinds!) can be bought at automatic machines with touch-screen LCD displays. There is also a ticket counter with staff but queues can be long.

You can also use the Oyster Pre-pay card (which I shall cover at a later date) on the entire Underground system.

Fares
London is split into 6 zones. Zone 1 being Central London and Zone 6 being the outskirts. The distribution of the zone is like this.

The fares depend on which Zone you get on and off the train. It is obviously cheaper travel witihn one zone compared with across multiple zones. The zones/stations are labelled in the Tube map.
The complete single fare list is lengthy due to the number of zone combinations you can make. They can be found HERE.

Just like the busses, the use of Oyster PrePay card will mean cheaper journeys.

Trains and Signage
The trains on all the lines are painted Red/Blue (so you will not be able to differentiate which lines they are running on, Japan style). Make sure you follow the correct signage to your line especially if your station has multiple lines.

Stations tend to have good signage leading to your train - the name of the line and the colour is indicated.

A good thing to do is to use the tube map and look whether you are travelling up/down/left/rightwards because the map is orientated properly (i.e. upwards = Northbound). This is because the signage uses directional language such as "Eastbound". The final signage when you pick your platform has a map of where the trains departing from a particular platform goes to.

Where does this train go? Branches? Shared lines?
Some lines split into 2 (or even 3!) "branches" (most notably District Line) and some trains actually teminate before the end! So how can you tell which train goes where?

Every platform has a LED sign hanging from the ceiling, telling you where the next 3 trains terminate. This the time again to look at your tube map to find that destination station. Your concerns are:

1. Does this train terminate before I get off?
2. Does this train go to another branch?

If you answer "Yes" to any of the following questions, then you have to wait for the next train or the one after!

Some tracks are shared by multiple lines. The best example is part of the Circle(Yellow) line shares the same track as the District(Green) line. This can be seen on the tube map where several colours are drawn in a single line. Your saviour again is your copy of the Tube Map and the LED screen hanging from the ceiling!

Plan your Journey
The most important of all things to do is to plan before you depart. Check which lines you have to take and where to change trains if you have to. See if you're going "Eastbound" or "Westbound" etc.

If your local tube line splits/branches into 2, it is also great to know the names of stations at the end of each branch (e.g. District Line: Ealing/Richmond/Wimbledon).

One Last Tip
Changing at Bank to Monument station requires A LOT of walking! If you're on the District/Circle lines and want to change to Central line, it is much better to change at Mile End(Central/District) or Liverpool Street(Central/Circle) stations where feasible. Use your judgement!

Getting around in London: Bus

2005-10-04T06:47:00.000-07:00

London is split into 6 zones for fare-calculation purposes and is covered by various forms of transport:

Bus
Mainly double-deckers which are all over tourist brochures. There are also some single deckers and articulated "bendy-busses". All of them are painted red so you cannot miss them. They run on fixed routes stopping at fixed stops (remember this Pilipinos!).

Getting on at the bus stop, you will have to reach your hand out horizontally (90 degrees to your body) so that the driver will stop. Getting off at the next stop means pushing the red "STOP" button, found on handrails.

The large destination panel at the front will have:
1. a number
2. names of places that the bus will pass (in small letters)
3. The final destination (in larger bold letters).
(Include annotated picture).

Looking closely at the bus stop pillar reveals some details:
1. Name of place that busses will head (so you won't go the wrong direction).
2. List of bus route numbers (in white and yellow).
3. A letter on top of the post.
4. A number indicating which zone the bus stop is located in (one of the 6 zones).
(Include annotated picture).

Every trip costs £1.20 but £0.80 (or £1.00 peak) with an Oystercard, regardless of distance. Valid travelcard holders will not need to pay. (Will cover various tickets later).

Looking back at the bus stop pillar (bullet #2), if your bus route is in Yellow, you will need to buy your ticket at the machine beside the bus stop before you board. No change is given.
However, routes in White mean you pay the driver. Exact change recommended.

Use your curiousity - Bus stop pillars and the shelters provide useful maps of bus routes. As the format is the same all over London, very useful to remember the type/format of the information on offer. This is also where bullet #3 of the "Bus Stop Pillar" comes in handy.

"Penalty Fare" - Students not paying for the "bendy-busses" is unfortunately not unheard of. This is not only illegal but you will be slapped with a £20 "Penalty Fare" if caught without valid tickets by an inspector.

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Confused? I would be...this is why I'm trying to write a brief but useful guide. It took me ages for all this to sink in despite the fact I lived in London 10 years back.