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Stansted Express
The Stansted Express is a direct train service linking London Liverpool Street to London Stansted Airport. It is a sub-brand of Greater Anglia, the current franchise operator of the East Anglia franchise. History In 1986, British Rail (BR) extended the electrification of the West Anglia Main Line from Bishop's Stortford to Cambridge. Included in this plan was the construction of a new branch line—diverging from a triangular junction at Stansted Mountfitchet—to serve , at which a new terminal was to open in 1991 providing for a large expansion in scheduled aviation passenger services. Therefore, BR decided to build a dedicated fleet of units to work the new Stansted Express service, designated as Class 322, with the service operated by the Network SouthEast sector. Upon the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, the Stansted Express was part of West Anglia Great Northern franchise until the tender was reorganised in 2004, at which time it became part of the Greater Angli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Rail Class 745
The British Rail Class 745 ''FLIRT'' is a class of electric multiple unit passenger train, built by Stadler as part of the FLIRT family. The class is built for Greater Anglia for use on their inter-city services and the Stansted Express services. They first entered service on 8 January 2020, after being constructed between 2018 and 2020 in Switzerland. History In August 2016, Abellio Greater Anglia was awarded the East Anglia franchise with a commitment to replace all of the existing fleet. As part of this, an order was placed with Stadler Rail for twenty 12-carriage electric multiple units that would join the FLIRT family. These new trains are classified as Class 745s and are divided into two sub-classes: ten 745/0 units and ten 745/1 units. Alongside the related Class 755 units, also in the FLIRT family, the units will be maintained at Crown Point TMD. The 745/0 units were built to replace the Class 90 locomotive, Mark 3 carriage and Driving Van Trailer loco-hauled sets o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Network SouthEast
Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the network went as far west as Exeter. Before 1986, the sector was originally known as ''London & South Eastern''. During the privatisation of British Rail, it was gradually divided into a number of franchises. History Before the sectorisation of British Rail (BR) in 1982 the system was split into largely autonomous regional operations: those operating around London were the London Midland Region, Southern Region, Western Region and Eastern Region. Sectorisation of BR changed this setup by instead organising by the traffic type: commuter services in the south-east of England, long-distance intercity services, local services in the UK regions, parcels and freight. The aim was to introduce greater budgetary efficiency and managerial accounta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oyster Card
The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport for London (TfL) and can be used on travel modes across London including London Buses, London Underground, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Overground, Tramlink, some river boat services, and most National Rail services within the London fare zones. Since its introduction in June 2003, more than 86 million cards have been used. Oyster cards can hold period tickets; travel permits and; most commonly, credit for travel ("Pay as you go"), which must be added to the card before travel. Passengers touch it on an electronic reader when entering and leaving the transport system in order to validate it and deduct funds from the stored credit. Cards may be "topped-up" by continuous payment authority, by online purchase, at credit card t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thorpe Park
Thorpe Park Resort, commonly known as Thorpe Park, is an amusement park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertainments and includes rides, themed cabins, live events and ''Stealth (roller coaster), Stealth'', the United Kingdom's fastest rollercoaster. In 2019 Thorpe park was the UK's third most visited theme park (1.9 million visitors), behind Alton Towers and Legoland Windsor Resort, Legoland Windsor. However, in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the park only had a 125-day operation season, along with limited capacity, leading to massively reduced visitor numbers. Despite this, Thorpe Park was the second most attended theme park in the UK in 2020, behind Alton Towers. After demolition of the Thorpe Park Estate in the 1930s, the site became a gravel pit managed by Ready Mix Concrete (RMC). When the pits were expended, RMC regenerated the site ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Life London Aquarium
The Sea Life London Aquarium is located on the ground floor of County Hall on the South Bank of the River Thames in central London, near the London Eye. It opened in March 1997 as the London Aquarium and hosts about one million visitors each year. History In 2005, the aquarium displayed three robotic Fish created by the computer science department at the University of Essex. The fish were designed to be autonomous, swimming around and avoiding obstacles like real fish. Their creator claimed that he was trying to combine "the speed of tuna, acceleration of a pike, and the navigating skills of an eel." In April 2008, the aquarium was purchased by Merlin Entertainments for an undisclosed sum. The facility was closed for a £5 million refurbishment, which was completed in April 2009. The additions included a new underwater tunnel, Shark Walk, a revamped Pacific Ocean tank, and a complete rerouting of the exhibit, all of which were carried out under the supervision of architect K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madame Tussauds
Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in 1835 by French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud in London, spawning similar museums in major cities around the world. While it used to be spelled as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is no longer used. Madame Tussauds is a major tourist attraction in many cities, displaying the waxworks of famous and historical figures, as well as popular film and television characters. History Background Marie Tussaud was born as Marie Grosholtz in 1761 in Strasbourg, France. Her mother worked for Philippe Curtius in Bern, Switzerland, who was a physician skilled in wax modeling. Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling beginning when she was a child. He moved to Paris and took his young apprentice, then only 6 years old, with him. Grosholtz created her first wax sculpture in 1777 of Voltaire. At the age of 17, she became the art tutor to Madame Elizabeth, the sister of King Louis XVI of France, at the Palace of Versailles. During t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Eye
The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom with over 3 million visitors annually. It has made many appearances in popular culture. The structure is tall and the wheel has a diameter of . When it opened to the public in 2000 it was the world's tallest Ferris wheel. Its height was surpassed by the Star of Nanchang in 2006, the Singapore Flyer in 2008, and the High Roller (Las Vegas) in 2014. Supported by an A-frame on one side only, unlike the taller Nanchang and Singapore wheels, the Eye is described by its operators as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel". The London Eye used to offer the highest public viewing point in London until it was superseded by the observation deck on the 72nd floor of The Shard, which opened to the public on 1 February ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria Line
The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in south London and in the north-east, via the West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run completely underground, the other being the Waterloo & City line. The line was constructed in the 1960s and was the first entirely new Underground line in London for 50 years. It was designed to reduce congestion on other lines, particularly the Piccadilly line and the branch of the Northern line. The first section, from Walthamstow Central to , opened in September 1968 and an extension to followed in December. The line was completed to Victoria station in March 1969 and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II who rode a train from Green Park to Victoria. The southern extension to Brixton opened in 1971, and Pimlico station was added in 1972. The Victoria line is operated using automatic train operation, but all trains have drivers. The 2009 Tube Stock rep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tottenham Hale Station
Tottenham Hale is a National Rail and London Underground interchange station located in Tottenham Hale in north London, England. On the National Rail network it is on the West Anglia Main Line, from London Liverpool Street, and is served by Greater Anglia and Stansted Express. On the Underground it is on the Victoria line between and . The station is in Travelcard Zone 3. The station was opened in 1840, with Underground services added in 1968. A new station building is under construction, and an additional platform is being added as part of a regeneration scheme. History 19th century Locations served by Tottenham Hale trains in previous years included London St Pancras (via the Tottenham and Hampstead Joint Railway), North Woolwich via the low level platforms at (after the Palace Gates Line service was cut back) and York (via Cambridge and the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway). Until recently, the next station served to the south on the line to was , but onl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after Heathrow and Stansted airports, and was the 36th-busiest in Europe by total passenger traffic. It covers a total area of . Gatwick opened as an aerodrome in the late 1920s; it has been in use for commercial flights since 1933. The airport has two terminals, the North Terminal and the South Terminal, which cover areas of and respectively. It operates as a single-runway airport, using a main runway with a length of . A secondary runway is available but, due to its proximity to the main runway, can only be used if the main runway is not in use. In 2018, 46.1 million passengers passed through the airport, a 1.1% increase compared with 2017. History The land on which Gatwick Airport stands was first developed as an aerodrome in the la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others being Gatwick, City, Luton, Stansted and Southend). The airport facility is owned and operated by Heathrow Airport Holdings. In 2021, it was the seventh-busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic and eighth-busiest in Europe by total passenger traffic. Heathrow was founded as a small airfield in 1929 but was developed into a much larger airport after World War II. The airport lies west of Central London on a site that covers . It was gradually expanded over seventy-five years and now has two parallel east-west runways, four operational passengers terminals and one cargo terminal. The airport is the primary hub for both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Location Heathrow is west of central London. It is locate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gatwick Express
Gatwick Express is a high-frequency rail passenger service between , Gatwick Airport, and in South East England. It is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Gatwick Express route of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise. The service began in May 1984 with air-conditioned InterCity carriages operated by British Rail. When it was privatised in April 1996, National Express took over the franchise. In June 2008, Gatwick Express ceased to exist as a separate franchise, when it was merged into the Southern train operating company, although it continues to be maintained as a separate identity. In July 2015, Southern including the Gatwick Express service was merged into Govia Thameslink Railway. The service was suspended on 30 March 2020, following the drop in passenger numbers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic resuming briefly in December 2021, but was suspended again shortly after following the impact of the Omicron v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
