Travelling to and from LUiL (First stop, London!)
London is the hub of Europe. Learning at LUiL means gaining access to Loughborough’s first class reputation and also winning the chance to explore London, the UK and beyond!
At the moment, I am sitting near the LUiL campus thinking about my own travel plans for the summer. Stratford International rail station is moments away and London’s City Airport is just 15 minutes down the road on the Docklands Light Railway.
In order to plan some adventures of your own, over the next few posts I will be providing you with the travel information you will need for getting around; London, England and even Europe!
First stop, London!
Having lived near to the LUiL campus for all of my life I never fail to be amazed by the variety of activites and attractions that can be easily reached, using public transport (for more information on places to visit in London check out the list provided by fellow amabassador Zhouliang Ren http://renzhouliang.tumblr.com/).
London Underground
London buses and trains make visiting all of these attractions from Stratford possible all year long. The most popular method of travelling around London is by train, through the use of the London Underground. With 270 stations and tens of thousands of users per day, it is important to understand how the London Underground works.
When selecting a train first you must look at the colour of the line, for example red is the central line, as each represents a different train route, this may look confusing however, at all underground stations maps are provided, all of which include the names and colours of each underground line.
Below you can see an underground map as an example however, I have added a few bits to this map to help explain the system more clearly. As you can see I have added Northbound, Eastbound, Southbound and Westbound, these are the directions that your train could be going in and so, in the same way as a compass, you select either North, East South or West depending on the direction you would like to go.
Also, you can see faint, large numbers these represent the zones of the underground. The further apart your numbers are from your start point to end destination, the more your train fare will cost, unless you buy an entire day train ticket for all the zones known as a travel card.
To avoid paying huge fairs on the underground trains you can also, buy an Oyster card, a card you top up with money for all London bus and underground journeys and scan to enter and leave train platforms. This will dramatically save you money on journeys throughout the year, especially if you are a student, and so, it is worth speaking to a ticket office at any underground station in order to obtain one.
London Buses
As of July 2014, London buses are no longer able to accept cash. Instead, you can use an Oyster card, Visitor Oyster card or touchless payment on your debit/credit card if you happen to have it.
An Oyster card is the same electronic smart card you can use on underground trains which again you can buy and top up at your local underground station. A Visitor Oyster card can also be bought here, this is the same as a normal Oyster card, but it has a set amount of money on and, if you are very organised, you can even get it delivered to your door before your day of travel (make sure you allow for delivery times).
Do not worry if you suddenly realise you cannot afford one bus journey as you will be allowed to use your Oyster card for this journey, but remember to top up your Oyster card afterwards for next time, as your card will be showing a negative value.
For more information on all London transport and to help you plan a journey visit: https://www.tfl.gov.uk/
I hope this helps and can’t wait to hear about how you used London transport to make the most of being in the centre of such an amazing capital.
