20 things we learnt from TfL FoI requests in July 2024
1) TfL will not reveal the maximum speed on each tube line because "disclosure of the information you have requested would be likely to adversely affect the safety and security of TfL employees and members of the general public as well as national security." 2) During 2022/23 the TfL Lost Property Office returned 178 laptops, 23 stuffed toys and 4 sex toys to their owners. 42 fancy dress costumes were logged but not returned. No false limbs or Parliamentary security passes were handed in. 3) Between 2011 and 2023 a total of 3050 Countdown signs were installed at bus stops. During the same period 98 were permanently removed (the majority relocated to alternative locations). 4) Tube drivers are asked to give a verbal public address if their train is delayed in a tunnel for 30 seconds or more, or on a platform for 90 seconds or more, due to a red signal or another cause of delay. 5) No additional money was spent producing the Taylor Swift version of the tube map. The three printed versions of the map were donated free of charge by the printers. 6) If attempting to calculate your carbon emissions, the latest available data for London Underground is 24.7g CO₂ per passenger km. 7) 58 London Underground stations (including Bow Road and Stockwell) are wired for classical music. However classical music is not necessarily played at all these stations due to other operational needs or current equipment faults. 8) During 2023 only ten passengers travelled from Ickenham to Meridian Water, only one passenger from Crews Hill to West Wickham and no passengers from Clock House to Sundridge Park. Over a million passengers travelled from Brixton to Oxford Circus. 9) On the District line east of Barking, the structural asset deemed to be in the poorest condition is the platform at Hornchurch, followed by the girdering at Upney. All the toilets are closed for the foreseeable future due to their persistent misuse. 10) In the year April 2023 - March 2024 no TfL bus stops had zero boarding passengers (i.e. they were all used at least once). 51 bus stops had fewer than 5 boarding passengers. These include the penultimate stops on routes 375 and E5. 11 of the least used stops are Hail and Ride locations on the R5/R10 loop. (I would have blogged about this had the data not been so impenetrably ambiguously archaic)
11) 37% of London residents have no access to a car in their household. This falls to 22% in Outer London. The boroughs with the highest % of car-less households are the City of London, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Tower Hamlets and Lambeth, and the lowest are Sutton, Bromley, Hillingdon and Havering. 12) Six tube station car parks have been closed over the last six years. Tottenham Hale and Colindale closed for operational reasons. Arnos Grove, Blackhorse Road, Snaresbrook and Wembley Park closed for housing development. Snaresbrook's car park is due to re-open in 2026/27. 13) Between March 2020 and March 2022 a total of 136 injuries involving Santander Cycle users were reported to TfL. Of these 38 involved the emergency services and may have resulted in a hospital visit. Reported accidents involving customer injuries represent less than 0.001% of all hires. 14) In the year 2023/24 68 laptops were left in black cabs, 36 tablets were left on the DLR, 19023 mobile phones were left on London buses and 12 mobile phones were left on the cable car. 15) The Mayor of London had no input in approving "the mural featuring two women wearing burqas" on platform 5 at Whitechapel because the mural was installed prior to the position of Mayor of London existing. 16) The cost of the enforcement team who carry out revenue control on the Underground network for 2023/24 was £14.2m. The total value of penalty fares charged to those caught evading fares as a result of ticket inspections was £638,520. For London buses the equivalent figures are £7.7m and £707,272. 17) There have been 27 reported accidents involving tram tracks and bicycles in the Croydon area over the last five years. None of these incidents were collisions with any physical trams. 18) When the May 2023 tube map poster was displayed at stations, those in zones 1 and 2 included a Santander Cycles advertisement panel at the bottom, while at other stations the advert was for TfL Go. 19) The maximum volume of a busking pitch is deemed to be less than the volume at which a Public Address Announcement becomes inaudible to the majority of customers. If a customer feels that a busker is playing too loudly, the customer can ask a member of staff to talk to the busker and request that they turn down their volume level. 20) The new Gibbins Road entrance to Stratford station will close for the duration the station is in Event Mode (which is 2–3 hours prior to the event start time within the stadium). This is because Gibbins Road and the wider Carpenters estate do not have road closures in place during such events.
