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World Airline Road Race 2010 London |
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World Airline Road Race 2010 London |
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London has four airports and there is a fifth nearby. The largest and most well known is Heathrow lying 15 miles (24km) to the west of the centre of London. Heathrow Airport is currently the world’s second busiest airport (after Atlanta) but is so with only 2 runways (Atlanta has 5). Gatwick Airport is 28 miles (46km) to the South. Gatwick’s claim to fame is that it is the world’s busiest single runway airport with 263,653 aircraft movements in 2008. Stansted lies 30 miles (48 km) to the north east. The airport closest to the centre of London is London City Airport just 8 miles (12 km) to the east. Luton airport is also nearby – 35 miles (56 km) to the North. All of the airports have rail links with the Centre of London.
Where are distances to or from London measured from? They are measured from the original site of a cross erected back in 1290 following the death of Queen Eleanor – the wife of King Edward I (1272 to 1307). This was the last of twelve crosses erected along the route taken by the funeral procession from Lincoln, where she died, to Westminster Abbey. The location of the twelfth cross became known as Charing Cross and was at the southern end of what is now Trafalgar Square (the square being named after Nelson’s navel battle victory in 1805). The cross is no longer there, having fallen in 1647, and on its site is a statue of King Charles I (1625 to 1649) but there is a plaque stating that that is the point from which distances from London are measured. A replica of the cross, with Victorian embellishments, can be seen outside Charing Cross Station a few hundred meters away. Three of the original 12 crosses can still be found between Lincoln and London at Geddington, Hardingstone and Waltham. That all goes to prove that in London you are never far away from history!
Historically an "Underground" railway line is one where a trench was dug and the railway line was laid before being covered over and built upon whereas a "Tube" railway is one built in a tunnel bored by a tunnelling machine. In practice though the terms "London Underground" and "London Tube" are used interchangeably. In truth 55% of the Underground runs above the ground!
The London Tube map is a design classic. The idea of laying out the lines and stations more like a circuit diagram than a geographically accurate map dates back to 1933 and an electrical draughtsman named Harry Beck.
But whilst easy to read the layout can also be misleading. As you would expect stations tend to be closer together in the centre of London than in the outskirts. But some are very close. For instance the popular tourist destinations of Covent Garden and Leicester Square are just 340 meters apart yet many tourists take the tube between them. Even more extreme are Regent's Park on the Bakerloo Line and Great Portland Street on the Metropolitan and Circle Lines. You can spend 10 minutes taking two trains between them - or you can walk just 200 meters from one to the other. Even in the suburbs some stations are surprisingly close. The journey from Hanger Lane on the Central Line to Park Royal on the Piccadilly could take 40 minutes and 4 trains - but you might prefer the 800 meter walk instead.
Fortunately the Transport for London includes a Journey Planner which will work about the best route for you taking into account trains, buses and walking distances. You can even tell it that you don't like escalators.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/ (opens in new window)
More Tips will be added to this section - remember to visit again later on in the year.