In an ideal world every TfL station would have toilet facilities but the truth is you're more likely to be caught short.
It was therefore refreshing last week to see TfL announce "bold plans to grow and improve toilet provision" because that'd be a very good thing. The press release promised "investment totalling £3m per year over five years" aimed at "improving and increasing the number of accessible toilets on the network" and "closing the gap in existing toilet provision so that Tube, Overground and Elizabeth line customers are always within 20 minutes of a toilet without having to change train." The press release also linked to a page that linked to a page that linked to a brand new 26 page report where the meat of the proposals can be found, which I suspect not many people have read. I'll get to that in a couple of shakes.
You can view the status quo on TfL's toilets map, a much bigger version of which is available if you click on my piddly one.
As well as differentiating between male, female and accessible toilets, the symbols also show whether the facilities are inside or outside the gateline. This is important because if you're desperate on a train you don't want the toilet to be in a subway outside the station, and conversely if you're in the ticket hall you may not be able to access a toilet on the platforms.
The map shows that some parts of the network have a hugely better provision than others. Beyond Finchley Road on the Metropolitan and Jubilee lines every single station (bar Ickenham) has toilet provision, which is amazing. South of Kennington on the Northern line there are no toilets at all, which is appalling. Only three Elizabeth line stations don't have toilet provision. Only five DLR stations do. Also just because the map shows a station has a toilet doesn't mean it's actually open. It's all very hit and miss, which if you need a wee urgently is never a good idea.
This map shows toilet facilities at tube stations.
You can see the toilet strongholds very clearly - the far east of the District line, the Central line beyond Stratford, the Barnet end of the Northern line and pretty much all of west London. You can also see the toilet deserts - the Bakerloo line, the Victoria line, most of the rest of the Northern line and pretty much the whole of central London. See how the two new stations at Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms were built with toilets but the stations on the Jubilee extension weren't, or at least they haven't been kept open. TfL could be doing so much better.
Things are particularly desperate in zone 1.
The majority of these toilets aren't in TfL stations, they're at the mainline railway termini alongside (specifically Paddington, Marylebone, Euston, King's Cross, St Pancras, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Cannon Street, Blackfriars, Charing Cross and Waterloo). These have all been free to use since at least 2019 but it's perhaps a bit of a cheek to include them on the map. Elephant & Castle's so-called toilets are on platform 2 at the separate railway station. Vauxhall's are outside at the bus station. Green Park's, Piccadilly's and Westminster's are outside in a subway and I believe cost 50p.
A further seven stations (Earl's Court, Tottenham Court Road, Bank, Battersea Power Station, Nine Elms, Shoreditch High Street and Hoxton) only have accessible toilets. That's excellent if accessible facilities is what you need but it's not necessarily helpful to the wider population with urgent needs.
All of which leaves just four zone 1 stations with a public toilet inside a TfL gateline. I checked out all four.
» Baker Street: The Gents is at the foot of the stairs near the entrance to the eastbound Circle line platform, by the heritage pillared screen. The Ladies is upstairs in the ticket hall but outside the gateline.
» City Thameslink: These are at the Ludgate Hill entrance, just beyond the gateline, with ladies on the left and gentlemen on the right. Technically they're not TfL toilets at all, but the station's on the tube map so they're included.
» Farringdon: These are on the northbound Thameslink platform, close to the Crossrail escalators, and are open for most of the day. It's well worth knowing these exist.
» Victoria: I had to ask two members of staff where these were. One directed me to the railway station but his colleague was better informed and sent me to the new Cardinal Place exit at the top of the escalators. The facilities are behind three separate locked doors, each labelled 'Please ask staff for access to toilet', so prepare to cross your legs for a few extra seconds.
Then I got cocky and tried zone 2.
» Barons Court: Behind the gateline at the top of the stairs. Women on the left, Men on the right.
» Finchley Road: At the top of the stairs down to the northbound platform, but yesterday sealed off by a big sign saying 'No toilet facilities at this station', hmmm.
» Finsbury Park: To find these you have to work your way up to platforms 7 and 8 at the main station. Bog standard platform toilets.
» Kensington Olympia: On the northbound Overground platform, bang opposite where the front of the train stops.
» Stamford Brook: Between the gateline and the stairs, one male, one female.
» Stratford: I'm ashamed to say I'd never noticed these before. They're in the main ticket hall tucked behind the stairs up to the Central line.
» White City: In the ticket hall, just behind the gateline on the left. Pretty much perfectly located.
» Willesden Junction: On the northbound Bakerloo/Overground platform.
» The other 61 tube stations in zone 2: No toilets inside the gateline.
I should point out that I only used one of these, my bladder's not that weak. But it's really not many toilets, is it?
The plan is to improve accessibility and availability, particularly to close the gaps on the network with a lack of toilet facilities. The promised £15m of funding will be used to create new facilities, enhance existing facilities, reopen closed facilities and improve cleaning. They additionally intend to provide toilets at new, expanded or upgraded stations, so for example the following are already funded and on their way:
• Clapton - early 2025
• Seven Sisters - early 2025
• Colindale - late 2025
• West Ham - Spring 2026
• Leyton - late 2026
I'm particularly pleased about West Ham because the station has some of the most passive aggressive Go Away We Don't Have Any Toilets And There Aren't Any Outside Either notices anywhere on the network.
In addition a map-bashing exercise was used to identify nine particularly needy clusters of stations which, if filled, would mean passengers were no longer over 20 minutes from an accessible toilet. These are the clusters...
...and these are the nine stations they've identified to fill the gaps...
• Amersham (convert current facilities to include accessible toilet)
• Sudbury Hill (convert current facilities to include accessible toilet)
• White Hart Lane (install toilet into disused space on Platform 1)
• South Tottenham (convert staff toilet to public toilet and convert storeroom next door to staff toilet)
• Camden Road (convert existing offices on Platform 1 into customer toilets)
• Hammersmith [Dist & Picc] (convert disused ticket office at western gateline)
• Green Park (convert disused ticket office, maybe)
• Morden (convert disused ticket office)
• New Cross Gate (convert secondary staff toilet located behind ticket office)
There are also plans to trial full-time toilet attendants at Baker Street, Farringdon and Stratford, these some of the busiest stations on the network so something you might be amazed isn't currently the case.
Don't expect instant results because it's a five year plan, and it could be argued not an especially ambitious one. But these improved facilities are desperately needed because, let's be honest, the current provision is barely taking the piss.
