Tag: tfl

• Alexander: We’ll cross that bridge when… oh, wait

  Transport for London (TfL) is to introduce a “safety-critical” 18 tonne weight restriction on Vauxhall Bridge from July, after it failed to find the cash to do “top priority” renewal works that Heidi Alexander deferred in 2018.

  It said the restriction follows a recent assessment that showed that elements of the structure had “recently” deteriorated and that it has “a lower weight-bearing capacity than previously assessed”.
  
  While emergency vehicles and buses will be exempt from the restriction, the 0.5% of current traffic that is above 18 tonnes will be required to use a signed diversion.

  The weight restriction will remain in place while TfL works to resolve the problems as quickly as possible and continues to develop a long-term plan for the bridge

  The issue with these structures, as with the original Severn Bridge, is not individual (ordinarily) heavy vehicles, but the risk that too many will be on the bridge at the same time.
  
  

  

  The imposition of such restrictions has been on the cards since TfL postponed planned renewals work on the bridge in 2018, estimated at the time to cost £40-70m.
  
  This was part of a “two-year pro-active renewals freeze”, which included the deferral of major proactive renewals on London’s roads, as described in this paper to TfL’s Programmes and Investment Committee.
  
  Attending the meeting as deputy mayor for transport was Heidi Alexander, now transport secretary.
  
  The paper noted:

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  2026.05.13

• Could Khan disrupt the disruptors?

  Local Transport Today/TransportXtra reports mounting policy and regulatory tensions between the government and Transport for London (TfL) under mayor Sadiq Khan over the commercial rollout of driverless taxis in the capital, currently being trialled.
  
  It says that while the Government is fast-tracking a new permitting scheme to launch services this year, TfL has warned that no current autonomous vehicle meets its strict licensing standards for carrying fare-paying passengers.
  
  It adds:

  Ironically the situation could see Khan in direct dispute with his former Deputy Mayor for Transport Heidi Alexander- now Transport Secretary. Alexander held the position from May 2018 to December 2021. In this capacity, she was also Deputy Chair of the TfL board.

  The report frames the friction as between TfL describing robotaxis as “unproven” and ministers like Alexander and roads minister Simon Lightwood, who have championed the technology as a way to “lead the world”, create new jobs and enhance transport provision.

  

  Leading the world by doing something that is already prevalent elsewhere in that world is almost as dodgy a claim as creating new jobs, but how might robotaxis enhance transport provision?
  
  Possibly by reducing the costs through putting people out of work, but the question for both service provision and safety is, are the robotaxis to be additional to or instead of current transport forms?
  
  LTT/TransportXtra notes:

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  2026.05.01

• BBC only tells half the story on Silvertown

  The BBC has an astonishingly poor story about the Silvertown Tunnel a year on, with Transport for London (TfL) claiming that it is reducing congestion elsewhere, based on some very selective data, and with a huge piece of misinformation from the broadcaster,.

  I have obtained (via TfL) the statement on which the BBC report was based and it is a pretty accurate version, with one exception.

  The broadcaster reports:

  One year after the Silvertown Tunnel opened, Transport for London (TfL) said the project had reduced “chronic congestion” and improved journey times.

  New data suggested that drivers who used the neighbouring Victorian-era Blackwall Tunnel saw journey times reduced by more than 10% during weekday peak periods, TfL said.

  So, we only have weekday peak data with a reduction in journey times that doesn’t seem to justify a £2.2bn scheme that will see drivers charged tolls for years to come.

  And that is only one river crossing. Has congestion increased near the new tunnel? David Rowe, director of investment planning at TfL, said:

  We are continuing to monitor the impact of the Silvertown Tunnel both on congestion and the surrounding areas and environment as we pass this important milestone.

  I think that’s a yes.

  

  Rowe also said:

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  2026.04.08

• DfT and TfL adrift on contactless roll-out

  The Department for Transport’s (DfT) claim that tap-in, tap-out payment for trains has been “expanded across south-east England” has to be one of the most misleading press releases I have seen for a long time.

  It’s misleading not only because it’s by no means the universal coverage that the word “across” implies but because the programme is nowhere near the coverage that should have been achieved by the end of last year.

  The good news is that the addition of the 50 new stations to the Transport for London (TfL) system in four weeks’ time, including Stansted and Southend airports, means that passengers travelling to every London airport will be able to use contactless ticketing – assuming that they could tap in when then started their journeys.

  

  But, as I have reported extensively, this is part of a programme of 233 stations that TfL is delivering for the DfT – effectively extending the Oyster network – that was originally due to be completed by the end of 2024.

  It’s the first instalment on the “main phase” of 180 stations, with the “initial phase” of 53 stations being completed earlier this year, nearly two years late.

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  2025.11.17