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London: Local Transport Guide

  • July 11, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 189 views
ralderton
Railmaster
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London 🇬🇧

✅ Pass is valid on Elizabeth Line, Thameslink, London Overground (Lioness, Mildmay, Windrush, Weaver, Suffragette and Liberty lines) as well as commuter rail services (mainly in the south). This isn’t really enough for a tourist to get around London, but it does allow you to reach St Pancras, all airports (other than LCY), and central London.

❌ Not valid on tube, tram, bus, DLR, riverboats, cable car, Heathrow Express

 

How to pay

To travel by public transport, the easiest method is with a contactless bank card or phone. The system will automatically calculate the best fare at the end of each day and week (Monday-Sunday) and cap it at the price of a Travelcard.

  • Bus - tap when you get on, don’t tap when you get off. It’s a flat fare, no matter how far you go. Free transfer to more buses within 60 minutes (tap on again).
  • Tube - tap in and out at the fare gates, even if they’re open. If there are no gates look for a freestanding yellow card reader
  • Tram - tap when you get on only
  • Thames Clippers (Uber Boats) - Tap in and out on the jetty
  • Cable car - Tap in and out
  • Train - if you're not using you railpass, you can also tap in and out at train stations. Be careful to check you're not traveling outside the area of validity

Travel on riverboats and the cable car is expensive, and will always cost extra - even if you’ve already hit the price cap for a travelcard

Paper tickets and travelcards can still be bought at tube stations (not on buses), but they are considerably more expensive

Each person (except under-11s) must have their own bank card - you can’t share

 

Price examples (2025)

  • Single bus journey (including free transfer to other buses within 60 minutes) - ÂŁ1.75
  • Single tube journey in Zone 1 ÂŁ2.90 contactless, or ÂŁ7.00 paper ticket
  • Daily cap ÂŁ5.25 if you only use buses, increases to £8.90 if you include tube (Zone 1 & 2)
  • Weekly cap of ÂŁ24.70 for buses, or ÂŁ44.70 with tube Zone 1 & 2
  • Thames Clippers - ÂŁ9.50 in central London
  • Cable car - ÂŁ7

 

Concessions

Children under 11 travel free with an adult. Up to 16 they can get a child fare, but they need a photocard or visitor Oyster card. Unless you’re in London for a long time, it will be easier and not much more expensive to just pay adult price with a contactless card. But you can see a useful guide here.

Seniors - no discounts unless you live in London.

 

Airports

✅ Pass valid on Stansted Express, Luton Express, Gatwick Express, and Elizabeth Line to Heathrow
❌ Not Heathrow Express, Luton Airport DART
✅ Gatwick Terminal Transit and Heathrow Terminal Transfer are all free anyway

 

Useful links

    R

    2 replies

    ralderton
    Railmaster
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    • ralderton
    • Author
    • Railmaster
    • July 11, 2025

    Getting from St Pancras to other London stations.

    When travelling by Thameslink and Elizabeth Line, your pass is valid. It won’t work at the barriers. Show it to staff instead. Don’t forget to add the journey to your Trip.

    When travelling by tube with a conctactless credit or debit card, any of these journeys will cost ÂŁ2.80 or ÂŁ2.90, depending on time of day.

    By bus, it’s £1.75

    King’s Cross

    • Walk! It’s next door, 1 minute

    Euston

    • Walk if possible. It’s 10 minutes, and you can either walk along Euston Road or take the quieter back streets (Phoenix Road).
    • The journey by tube involves a lot of walking anyway, and will take just as much time
    • If you don’t want to walk, take a bus #91 or #390 two stops along the Euston Road. This makes more sense when going to St Pancras, because you’re already on the correct side of the road.

    Paddington

    • Get the tube (Circle or Hammersmith & City Line), and pay with your contactless card. It’s the quickest and easiest any southbound Thameslink train from St Pancras one stop to Farringdon. Change here to a Westbound Elizabeth Line train. All westbound trains go to Paddington.

    Other stations

    • Waterloo, Victoria, and Charing Cross are all served by direct tube from King’s Cross-St Pancras. Pay with contactless
    • Farringdon, London Bridge, and Blackfriars are served by Thameslink train from St Pancras. This is free with your pass
    • Liverpool Street - take the direct tube and pay with contactless. Alternatively, you can take the Thameslink to Farringdon, then Elizabeth Line to Liverpool Street.
    hapé
    E
    E
    Full steam ahead
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    • EJMRXVI
    • Full steam ahead
    • July 14, 2025

    Tiny additional point to make, lest anyone has difficulty with free transfers - the rail planner app hates being asked to direct you between termini in London. So if you want to go between Paddington and Liverpool St by Elizabeth Line or between St. Pancras and Blackfriars (a 15 minute walk from Waterloo) by Thameslink, it will say there are no results.

    You can add it to your trip as two separate journeys (i.e. Liverpool St - Tottenham Court Rd and then Tottenham Court Rd - Paddington leaving the same minute as the arrival of the first train), then obviously just don't get off at the "change" point in the middle. (The intermediate station on Thameslink would be Farringdon).

    Even then look carefully at the results the rail planner gives you, as it may come up with gibberish involving catching public transport to a completely different station before travelling. The correct results are those advising a journey lasting 4 minutes, not 45!

    ralderton
    hapé
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