Trying to figure out a new country’s public transport system can leave you feeling a bit… lost. Quite literally, sometimes.
How do you get the bus to stop? Can you buy a ticket on the train? What even is an Oyster Card?
If you’ve not yet got your car insurance sorted or you just prefer to let someone else do the driving for now, we’ll help you understand the UK’s public transport system. You’ll be hopping on and off like a local in no time.
Trains
Trains are probably the most pleasant way to travel long distances in the UK. It’s more comfortable than driving and if you’re on a route with few stops or changes it might even be quicker.
The main disadvantage to trains in the UK is the cost. It’s usually more expensive than driving, especially if there’s a small group of you travelling.
These are some tips for cheaper train travel in the UK:
- Buy tickets well in advance for longer journeys. You can buy online from National Rail, or from the train station.
- The most expensive ‘Peak’ fares are during commuter hours. It’s a lot cheaper to travel at ‘Off-Peak’ times if you can.
- Get a railcard if you’re a regular traveller. There are cards for friends, young people, students, seniors and couples. In 2024 most railcards cost £30 for a year and got you a third off fares.
You usually need to buy a ticket before you board. You can be fined if you’re caught without one. But if the ticket office is closed (or there isn’t one) and there’s no working ticket machine on the platform either, you can board the train without and buy it from the guard on the train.
Metro systems
Electric underground metro trains haven’t really caught on in the UK. With one massive exception: The London Tube.
In fact you have to head north to find another metro system in the UK. A long way north. The Tyne and Wear Metro is 300 miles away and the Glasgow Subway is even further, in Scotland.
You’ll need to buy a ticket to get through the ticket barriers for underground trains. Or if you’re a regular traveller you can use each city’s travelcard system to save time and money.
The Tube
If you ask a Londoner to direct you to the metro, you’ll be met with puzzled looks. They call it the Tube and it’s an essential part of London life. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and Overground are also part of the London metro system and you use them in the same way as the Tube.
Up to five million people jump on the Tube each day so it can feel a bit frantic. Follow these tips for successful Tube travel:
- You can buy tickets at machines or offices, but it’s much easier to use your contactless bank card. Just tap it on the reader at the barrier when you enter and exit and it’ll calculate the correct fare.
- You can also use an Oyster card in the same way. This is a travel card you can buy and pre-load with money at a ticket machine.
- Be ready at the barrier. Have your ticket or contactless card in your hand so you don’t hold up the queue.
- Stand on the left on escalators. The right is for people in a hurry rushing up or down.
- It might be quicker to walk one stop. If there’s a maze of tunnels and escalators to reach the platforms, very short journeys take longer than they should.
Buses
There are two big advantages of buses over trains in the UK. They’re a lot cheaper and they get to a lot of places that the train lines don’t reach.
Buses are for short distances. For longer trips between cities you’ll need a train or a coach.
Buses are run by lots of independent local providers, which each set their own fares. You can often find route maps and fare details on each provider’s website and they might even have an app where you can buy tickets and see live journey updates.
The famous London buses are bright red and hard to miss. Elsewhere in the country how they look will be different.
Here’s how to catch a bus in the UK:
- Wait at the stop and put your arm out when the bus is approaching. Otherwise the driver may not stop.
- Buy your ticket from the driver. As you get on, tell them where you’re going and they’ll tell you the fare. You need to tell them if it’s a single or return journey too. Return tickets are cheaper than two singles.
- It’s different in London where all bus fares cost the same - so you don’t need to say where you’re going. They don’t accept cash so you just tap your contactless or Oyster card, then take a seat. Don’t tap again when you get off.
- You can usually pay by cash or contactless card, but if you pay cash it’s best to have the correct change.
- You won’t get a ticket on London buses. But everywhere else you need to remember to tear off your ticket when it prints before you move down the bus.
- Use one of the bell buttons on the bus to tell the driver when you want to get off. Don’t leave it until the last second though.
- Thank the driver as you leave the bus.
Coaches
Coaches in the UK are really cheap for long distances compared with trains. There are three main coach companies – MegaBus, National Express and FlixBus.
You can buy tickets from each company’s website. Cheap fares sell out fast, so buy as far ahead as you can.
Coaches mostly travel in and out of the largest cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester, and to airports. If you’re travelling between smaller towns it’s likely you’ll have to journey through these hubs and change there.
Indirect routes and city traffic make coach travel pretty slow. But they’re a winner if you need to travel at night to get a flight, or you only need to go from one city centre to another.
At busy coach stations like London Victoria it can be hard to tell which stand to go to. Check departure boards, or ask a member of staff for help.
Trams
There are a handful of tram systems dotted around the UK:
- South London
- Nottingham
- Birmingham
- Edinburgh
- Manchester
- Sheffield
- Blackpool
The London, Manchester and Nottingham trams let you pay by tapping your contactless card on a reader when you get on and off the tram, so that you’re charged the right fare. On other trams you’ll need to buy a ticket before you board.
Taxis
There are two types of taxi in the UK:
- Black cabs – you can flag these down on the street. Put your arm out to hail one as it approaches. If it stops, get in and tell the driver where you need to go.
- Minicabs – these are for private hire. You have to pre-book your journey by phoning the cab company. Some also have an app to book. The best known of these is Uber. The Uber app lets you book and pay for a cab easily, but it’s mostly in the cities and larger towns in the UK.
Black cabs have a meter so you can see the fare adding up during the journey. For minicabs you should agree the fare when you book.
Taxi drivers usually take card or cash.Taxis are often the most expensive way to travel in the UK. But sometimes it works out cheaper for a small group of you to split a cab fare than to buy four or five train tickets.
London public transport tips
While driving is the fastest and cheapest way to get around most of the time, it’s the opposite in London. If you don’t fancy taking on the Capital by car (we don’t blame you), here’s what you need to know to make the most of the public transport network:
- London is divided into fare zones. The more zones you travel through and the closer they are to the centre, the more it costs.
- You can buy a travelcard to cover all the zones you’re travelling in and all the transport you’re using. For example, as of 2024 a one-day zone 1-2 travelcard is £8.50 and zone 1-6 is £15.90.
- A better alternative is using your contactless card. If you tap in and out each journey, it’s capped at the travelcard price so you’ll never pay more than you have to.
- If you don’t have a contactless card you can use an Oyster card instead. You top it up with credit and use it just as you would a contactless card.
- You can tap onto as many buses as you want within one hour and you’ll only be charged a single £1.75 fare. What a bargain!
Ready to hit the road?
The UK’s public transport network is great, but sometimes it just makes sense to drive yourself.
If you’re ready to get around in your own car you’ll need car insurance. Get a quote and see if we can save you some money
