Transport

For project managers involved in or interested in transport projects London is the place to visit for past, present and future challenges and how they may be addressed.

Traffic lights are a very common feature in London owing to the number of junctions, the lack of roundabouts and the “sheer weight of traffic” on the roads. The first manually operated traffic signals from 1869 were in Parliament Square for a few years.  Modern installations started around 1929 growing to over 3,500 units at 300 junctions. And now there appear to be more with pedestrian crossing, cycle routes and special symbols superimposed on red, amber and green – which have also been adopted in some sectors by some project teams for dashboard reporting on statuses.

The expansion and growth of London in 19^th century was completely dependent on developments in transport and civil engineering. The bridges over the Thames opened up south of the river with Vauxhall Bridge (1816), Waterloo Bridge (1817), Southwark Bridge (1819) then more and some replacements. Railways and trains at a suburban level, with trams and horse-drawn buses made commuting possible.  The underground system, cycles, motor vehicles as cars, buses and motor cycles all assisted people movement.

Transport projects have a come a long way and are still on a journey – around the world; and in London. Public transport in London is operated or coordinated by TfL – Transport for London. Here are a few examples of transport that may be of interest:

• London Transport Museum – in Covent Garden, WC2E 7BB – it is the place to go for transport in London in the last two hundred years up to modern day. Also with trips and tours to secret and disused transport places.
• This includes the tube map development with the definitive layout by Henry Beck in 1931.
• Museum of London – for many early forms of transport.
• The first underground trains from Paddington via Baker Street to Moorgate in current Circle Line as cut and cover.
• Other deep tube lines from over one hundred years ago, starting with Stockwell to the City in 1890, with over xx stations and xx miles of track above and below ground.
• New rail services such as Crossrail for The Queen Elizabeth line.
• Mainline railway stations which are now also retail centres and integrated transport hubs such as: St Pancras – including Eurostar terminus; Kings Cross; Waterloo; Paddington; Victoria; London Bridge; Marylebone; Cannon Street; Liverpool Street; Fenchurch Street and many suburban stations – with many undertaking refurbishment and upgrades while continuing to fully function with limited and limiting track closures.
• Inner-city airport at City Airport; with international airports at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton plus Southend; and many several smaller airfields.
• Docklands Light Railway (DLR) serving East London.
• Tramway in Croydon; and others muted.
• BAA Heathrow Visitor Centre.
• Congestion Charge regime in centre.
• Cycle ways and bike hire.
• Comprehensive public bus service; and Victoria Coach Station; SW1W.
• Public river services, with over 15 boat piers with connections to attractions and piers.
• Brompton Bikes – made in Greenford.