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Public transport routes in cities like New York and Chicago have been available on Google Maps for a long time now. This service has finally been extended to London.

It is estimated that London’s network of 250 underground stations and 18,000 bus stops is used by over 1 billion commuters every year.

Now, when a commuters and tourists wants to get from one point to another, they can plan their journey by visiting Google Maps and then clicking ‘Get Directions’ in the left-hand panel.

Selecting the train icon shows public transport directions. Users can enter a departure location and a destination as they would for driving and walking directions. These can be either in the form of street addresses or names of popular places, businesses or restaurants. Once that is done, clicking the ‘Get directions’ button will bring the desired results.

Google Maps with public transport directions for London

Users will receive instructions about several different options they can use for the trip. On Google Maps for Mobile, the suggestions will be based on the user’s current location by default.

While Underground and bus routes are integrated perfectly into the system, the recently extended London overground train network is not incorporated into Google Maps. As a result, some journeys that would take just 15 minutes on the train are shown as a 45-minute route via the Underground network.

Kentish Town to City Thameslink requires 30 additional minutes on Google Maps

Those using Android devices will get directions with Transit Navigation (Beta) in Google Maps. This new feature, which was launched earlier this month, will also show alerts when it’s time to alight or transfer from one bus or overground train to another.

Public transport directions are available for all Underground, bus, tram and Docklands Light Railway (DLR) lines. More services will be included as soon as information is available.

London has one of the best public transport systems in the world. Locals rely on the Transport For London official governmetn site when planning their journey. However, tourists often aren’t aware of this service. It will now be even easier for commuters, especially for tourists to use this public transport as detailed directions will be available to them at a click.