With the ULEZ due to expand in August, TfL have a fresh focus on Outer London.
You can see this in their press releases where the phrase 'in outer London' is now increasingly commonplace. Last month only two press releases referenced outer London but this month's total is ten, which is quite a ramping up. They've also set up a webpage entitled 'Outer London transport', now six months old, although there's no corresponding page for Inner London.
But they haven't defined what they mean by outer London, just occasionally referenced boroughs they say are within it, and using examples which aren't entirely consistent with any of the general definitions.
For example a press release in 2021 stated that Greenwich was an outer London borough and a press release on Monday stated that Newham was an inner London borough. This fits with the statistical definition of Outer London used by the Office for National Statistics and the census. But tfl.gov.uk/outer-London also states that Haringey is an outer London borough, and under none of the general definitions are both Greenwich and Haringey in outer London. The whole thing is a bit of a movable mystery.
And this matters as TfL continue to bang the drum over outer London transport improvements in the run-up to ULEZ expansion and the next Mayoral election. Where exactly are these improvements taking place?
The Outer London transport webpage cites eight different categories of transport improvements so let's see how 'Outer London' they are...
Of those new routes the 378 and 533 were only introduced because Hammersmith Bridge closed, the 304 is only in Outer London if Newham is and the 335 is only in Outer London if Greenwich is. The other eight are unequivocally Outer London routes. The extension of 30 outer London routes and increased frequencies of 65 outer London bus routes might well be true but these claims are unverifiable using existing public data (and the reduction in frequency of wellover100 bus routes is not mentioned).
The text goes on to mention four fresh consultations, two of which are piddly and one of which refers to a route that never leaves Inner London. Previous consultations in Ealing, Haringey, Sutton and Croydon are mentioned (Haringey may or may not be in outer London) as are two proposed routes through the Silvertown Tunnel (which are only in Outer London if either Newham or Greenwich are).
Superloop: This express bus chain is undeniably an Outer London project, as you can see if you draw the proposed loop on a map. The only dubious borough it enters is Newham, and under the definition of 'statutory Outer London' the entire loop would be inside.
Bus Action Plan: These four paragraphs are all generic text which could apply equally to Inner or Outer London (other than a reference to the super-electrfication of route 358 which is properly Outer).
Elizabeth line: Generic text which could apply equally to Inner or Outer London.
New DLR trains: Under the strategic definition of Outer London, as used by City Hall, none of the DLR enters Outer London. But if either Newham or Greenwich counts as Outer London then it does.
New Piccadilly line trains: Generic text which could apply equally to Inner or Outer London.
Barking Riverside: 100% Outer.
Walking and cycling: Only cycling gets a mention, specifically five new Cycleway projects. Of these one is in Islington/Haringey (maybe Outer), one is in Brent (Outer), one is in Hackney (Inner), one is in Greenwich (maybe Outer) and one is in Hounslow (Outer).
I've made that sound much more dubious than it really is because several of these projects genuinely are in Outer London, if only we knew which. But as ULEZ extension and the Mayoral Election draw closer, and TfL's 'Outer London' drumbeat gets louder, remember to take what they say with a dash of scepticism because they've never told us precisely where Outer London actually is.
