Monday, 27 January 2025

Celebrating 25 Years of Transport for London

TfL Image - TfL 25 Roundel

Transport for London (TfL) celebrates its 25th anniversary, marking its creation alongside the Greater London Authority (GLA). Both of these authorities were established as part of Tony Blair’s New Labour 1997 manifesto commitment to create a new London-wide authority, a step that had been absent since the Greater London Council was abolished in 1986. In 1998, 72% of the electorate voted in favour of establishing the Greater London Authority, alongside the Mayor of London, the London Assembly, and Transport for London. The voter turnout was 34%.

Subsequently, the government passed the Greater London Authority Act 1999, which created the GLA and TfL. Elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly were held on 4th May 2000.

This led to significant changes in public transport in London.

However, if you consider the previous London Transport authorities, dating back to the creation of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) on 1st July 1933, it will soon be 92 years old.

The creation of the LPTB was intended to bring private transport operations into the public sector. Notably, the Underground Group, which included the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) and Thomas Tilling’s London operations, were ‘bought’ partly with cash and partly through the issue of interest-bearing stock. This resulted in a unified public transport operation in London, excluding the Big Four mainline railway companies: the Great Western Railway (GWR), London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), and Southern Railway (SR).

Text from TfL Press release:

Transport for London celebrates 25 years of supporting the growth and development of the capital
London’s Transport Commissioner, Andy Lord, today (27 January 2025) launched celebrations to mark 25 years since Transport for London (TfL) started transforming the capital’s transport network, supporting jobs, homes and economic growth, and connecting Londoners to education, employment and leisure.
Flagship improvements over the last 25 years include the Elizabeth line - now the busiest railway service in the country, which has boosted economic growth and job creation across the UK and housing across London. Trams and the London Overground have revolutionised the rail network and the six London Overground lines have been given their own identities to make it easier for customers to navigate. The London Underground has been modernised, while the Night Tube and Night Overground services are supporting London’s nighttime economy.
TfL pioneered the creation of pay as you go with Oyster and contactless payment and is delivering uninterrupted 4G and 5G across the network. Accessibility has also increased with more than 200 step-free stations on TfL's network, and work is underway to increase this number for a fairer, more accessible and inclusive network.
Cycle hire and more than 400 km of safe cycle paths have transformed London’s streets, while Vision Zero, the Mayor’s bold action plan to eliminate deaths on London’s roads, is working to create a safer London for all.
Work is ongoing to make London’s extensive bus and taxi network zero-emission, with 1,800 electric and hydrogen buses now in service, the largest fleet in Western Europe. The pioneering Superloop express bus service has improved connections and journey times in outer London, with plans being developed for more routes, while the Mayor’s Hopper fare is helping Londoners save money on travel. The world’s first 24-hour Ultra Low Emission Zone has improved air quality across the capital, while the Congestion Charge has reduced traffic in central London for more than 20 years and helped people travel more sustainably.
Andy Lord joined 25 buskers to celebrate TfL’s 25th anniversary at Liverpool Street Underground station today, alongside a new roundel and series of eye-catching new posters* marking the improvements to public transport since TfL was established. TfL’s busking scheme was introduced in 2003, and last year hundreds of musicians auditioned for a coveted license, with new pitches set to be introduced on the Elizabeth line this year.
London Transport Museum will mark TfL’s 25th anniversary with a programme including a creative competition for schools and events for the public to enjoy, school holiday activities for families at Easter and at its first Museum Depot Open Days of the year from 4 to 6 April in Acton, west London. A new photography exhibition will open in June featuring historic photographs of London’s transport from the 19th century, alongside contemporary images of today, showing how transport has helped shape the capital. More programming will follow later in the year.
People are invited to share their photos and special memories relating to TfL from the last 25 years, whether they are a lifelong Londoner, have adopted the city as their home or are a visitor. The transport network has played a role in many people’s big moments, from meeting their partner, to visiting the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, to their first time using Santander Cycles. Their stories will be told throughout the year on TfL’s social media channels, TfL’s blog and in stations. A Jubilee line treasure hunt will be held on Saturday 1 February to celebrate the extension of the service from the West End to the Docklands.

Notes to editors

Some of TfL’s key achievements over the last 25 years include the following, some of which will appear on posters as part of the work to mark TfL’s anniversary.
• 2000 – TfL’s tram system launched – since then, it has carried more than 590 million passengers
• 2002 - TfL's online Journey Planner launched, the first multi-modal system of its kind in the UK, allowing customers to plan journeys across several modes
• 2003 – The Oyster smart card was introduced
• 2004 - TfL’s education programmes, now known as TfL Travel for Life, have supported more than three million children to travel towards a brighter, safer and more sustainable future since 2004
• 2005 – TfL’s entire fleet of buses became fully wheelchair accessible
• 2005 - The introduction of free travel for children on TfL services
• 2006 – The launch of Baby on Board badges
• 2008 - The first wide aisle ticket gates were installed at Tube stations as part of TfL’s commitment to make the Underground accessible for wheelchair users, older people, parents with children and travellers with luggage
• 2008 - Priority seating launched, encouraging customers to give up seats for pregnant women, as well as people with disabilities or those less able to stand, making travel easier and safer for all
• 2009 - iBus was fully rolled out. iBus gave London next stop audio and signs, information on all buses and live information on apps and website
• 2010 – The first ever air-conditioned, fully walk through Tube train on the Metropolitan line launched, designed to make life easier for people with disabilities and keep customers more comfortable
• 2010 - Since 2010, more than 137 million journeys have been made on TfL cycle hire bikes, which are now called Santander Cycles. The scheme now includes e-bikes and has doubled the number of cycle hire points across the city since its introduction
• 2010 - London’s streets become the first in England to trial pedestrian countdown technology, which tells pedestrians how long they have to safely cross the road
• 2012 - TfL helped millions to attend the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games and kept the rest of the city moving
• 2012 - TfL introduced manual boarding ramps on the Tube to significantly improve accessibility in advance of the Paralympic Games, contributing to the most accessible Games at the time
• 2012 - The 60+ Oyster photocard was introduced
• 2016 – The Night Tube launched - with 7.8 million passengers in the first 12 months
• 2016 - The introduction of the Hopper fare - unlimited bus and tram journeys within an hour of first touching in, for the price of a single fare
• 2019 – The first Cycleway launched in 2019, and today London's cycling network spans more than 400km, the same length as the Tube network
• 2019 - TfL launched the world’s first lorry safety scheme (Direct Vision Standard Scheme) to help improve the visibility of people walking, cycling or riding e-scooters or motorcycles. Since its introduction, fatal collisions have fallen by 49 per cent
• 2021 - The Northern line was extended to Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms - the first major Tube extension this century – enhancing access to transport for customers
• 2022 - The Elizabeth line launched, increasing rail capacity by 10 per cent, the biggest increase in the capital in 70 years and creating the UK’s most popular railway service
• 2023 – The 1,000th zero-emission bus launched on London’s network
• 2023 – The Care Leaver Oyster photocard was introduced
• 2024 – The first phase of the Superloop was completed, connecting outer London boroughs more quickly with express bus services
• 2025 – The first new Piccadilly line air-conditioned trains will start to be introduced on the TfL network
• 2025 – The first new DLR trains will come into service
• 2025 – TfL will finish converting its bus shelter lighting to LED – currently at 95 per cent of shelters - to create safer, brighter and more welcoming spaces across the network for customers

Read more

There’s a minor error in TfL’s press release: the Tramlink began operations on 10th May 2000, which was during the final months of London Transport, only a couple of months before TfL and the Greater London Authority (GLA) were launched on 3rd July 2000.

I would also like to include some insights into buses in TfL's key achievements:

2002 – Launch of the bendy bus in full service on Red Arrow routes 507 and 521. Over the years, they served up to twelve routes and were fully withdrawn in 2011, with Route 207 being the last route.

2005 – The last of the AEC Routemasters were withdrawn in favour of a fully low-floor, wheelchair-accessible bus service, with the exception of heritage routes 9 and 15, which continued to use AEC Routemasters. The 9H was withdrawn in 2014, and the 15H in late 2019.

2012 – The three-door, two-staircase hybrid New Routemaster (New Bus for London) prototype was launched on Route 38. The full rollout of 1,000 NRMs was completed in 2018, at a cost of around £350 million.

2013 – The first single-deck electric buses for London were introduced on Red Arrow routes, manufactured by BYD.

2015 – The launch of the Enviro400H City by Alexander Dennis on Route 78, building on the Enviro400 MMC (Major Model Change), as the bus incorporated design features from the New Routemaster.

2016 – The world’s first double-deck electric bus entered service on Route 98, manufactured by BYD.

I should also mention that the Tube and railway extensions to Heathrow Terminal 5 station for the London Underground Piccadilly line and Heathrow Express were opened on 27th March 2008.

Here are some of the highlights of Transport for London during their early years, which I have posted on social media:

#Throwback #Year2000 Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott joined Croydon schoolchildren for a test run of Tramlink, ahead of its opening in the coming weeks. He praised the project as a key step towards sustainable, accessible public transport in Greater London.

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— CLondoner92 (@clondoner92.bsky.social) November 22, 2024 at 9:02 PM

#Throwback #Year2003 - Transport for London press release: Bendy buses win passenger approval "New research from London Buses today revealed significantly higher levels of customer satisfaction with bendy buses than conventional double decks or [AEC] Routemaster vehicles."

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— CLondoner92 (@clondoner92.bsky.social) August 25, 2024 at 12:05 PM

Suggestions for Improvement:

If you have been a regular reader of my website and a follower on social media, you may have come across my suggestions on how to improve public transport services in London and beyond.

I Believe TfL Should Reform The Travelcard Agreement To Offer Smart Flexible Ticketing Options

Suggestion: I Believe It’s Time for a New Regional Transport Body for the South East of England?

Suggestion: Transport for London Should Revive the Old Speedbus Proposal From the 1970s as Part of Phase 2 of the Superloop

Making A Case For New Rapid Transit Lines (Including New Tram Lines) By Increasing Bus Priority Measures

Suggestion: London Passenger Transport Area Including London Country Buses Should Be Revived To Enhance Cross-Boundary Connections

Why is Creativity in Public Transport Important, Including Bus Route Planning and Branding?

Suggestion: Improvements To Wheelchair Accessibility At Railway Stations Should Include Allowing Other Staff To Use The Wheelchair Ramps

My Suggestions To Help Create The Most Accessible Zero-Emission Bus For London And Elsewhere!

Reviewing and Suggesting a New Common Bus Specification for London, Greater Manchester and Other Franchised Areas

My Standards for Providing Bus Services: Tailoring Vehicle Types and Door Configurations to Meet Route Needs

I have so much more suggestions to help improve public transport, which is why I posted them on social media.

My suggestion for a new accessible zero-emission bus (for London and elsewhere) with a stylish exterior design including three-doors, two-stairs and two wheelchair spaces.

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— CLondoner92 (@clondoner92.bsky.social) August 24, 2024 at 4:38 PM

My suggestions on how to improve public #transport in #London and elsewhere • More bus lanes, priority schemes, • Transit schemes from the 2000s, • Speedbus proposal from the 1970s, • Enhancing cross-boundary routes… #TfL #Buses #Underground #Trains #Trams #LightRail #Metro #urbanism

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— CLondoner92 (@clondoner92.bsky.social) April 2, 2024 at 12:08 PM

Before I wrap up...

I should mention that, as part of the 25th anniversary of the GLA, the Mayor of London has approved a petition to reinstate the GLC's Coat of Arms as part of the GLA's identity.

The Mayor has approved a petition to transfer the Greater #London Council’s Coat of Arms to the GLA. The £5,035 fee will be paid from the London Assembly’s 2024-25 budget, reinforcing the GLA’s identity and its ties to London’s history. www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/g...

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— CLondoner92 (@clondoner92.bsky.social) January 25, 2025 at 6:30 PM

If you’re a representative of TfL, the GLA, or a transport and disability campaigner, feel free to reach out to me via social media using the links below.

I would like to extend an invite for you to follow me on X (formerly Twitter) for transport-related updates. You can find me by searching for @CLondoner92 or by clicking on the direct link to my X page here. I am also present on BlueSky and Mastodon. I look forward to connecting with you on these platforms. Thank you for your support.

Further reading:
Suggestion: The Administrative Divisions in England should be reformed and restructured to simplify responsibilities

Why Are Bus Lanes And Bus Priority Roads Beneficial To Emergency Services, Especially Non-Emergency Ambulances?

Advocating for Tube and Railway Drivers: The Importance of Filming POV Videos on the London Underground and Railway Services to Promote Public Transport Travel

Why I Believe Transport Enthusiasts Are The Biggest Promoters Of Public Transport?

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