Transport for London announces bold plans to grow and improve toilet provision

• In January, the Mayor of London announced the network's biggest ever dedicated investment in toilet provision of £3million per year over five years
• TfL is committed to making toilets more accessible for everyone and has been engaging with customers, campaigners and staff to ensure passengers are always within 20 minutes of a toilet, without having to change trains
• TfL is also looking to convert existing non-accessible toilets at Amersham, Green Park, Seven Sisters and Sudbury Hill stations to have accessible facilities, during the first phase of the project

Transport for London (TfL) has announced its ambitious programme to increase and improve toilet provision on London's transport network, in support of TfL's Equity in Motion plan to make London's transport network more accessible, fair and inclusive. The plan will see new accessible toilets delivered across the network, and improvements made to many existing facilities.

Earlier this year, the Mayor announced the biggest dedicated investment in toilet provision that London's transport network has seen, totalling £3million per year over five years. This will be invested in improving and increasing the number of accessible toilets on the network.

TfL is committed to making toilets more accessible for everyone 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.* Following engagement with customers, campaigners and staff, a new programme has been developed to ensure new toilets benefit customers who need them most. Stations were then chosen according to a number of factors, including whether the location is a terminus station, operates night services, has step-free access, high passenger footfall, proximity to other toilets on the network, and onward connections. 

TfL is committed to creating new facilities and enhancing existing facilities, including reopening closed facilities, and improving the cleaning of facilities. Following the study, TfL has shortlisted a number of locations for new toilet provision in the first round of works:

• Camden Road Overground station
• Clapton Overground station
• New Cross Gate London Overground station
• South Tottenham London Overground station
• White Hart Lane Overground station
• Morden Underground station
• Hammersmith Underground station

TfL and the Mayor recognise that the provision of toilets is critical to many customers, sometimes determining whether a customer can travel by public transport at all. This is why TfL is also looking to convert a further four existing non-accessible toilets to accessible facilities within this first phase of the project at Amersham, Green Park and Sudbury Hill Underground stations and Seven Sisters Overground station, improving availability at other busy toilets that are currently misused or vandalised. TfL has also made improvements to more than one-third of London Underground stations with toilet provision in recent years, including repairing faults and re-painting areas.

Construction work to deliver new and accessible toilets at these stations is expected to start at several locations within the next year, following detailed assessments to determine viability.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: "Toilet provision is critical for many Londoners and visitors, and can even determine whether somebody travels on public transport at all. That's why I'm planning to make the biggest ever investment to increase toilet provision across TfL services and boost accessibility. I'm pleased that the first round of my funding will enable toilet provision in new stations as well as upgrading current facilities - helping us to build a better, fairer London for everyone."

Andy Lord, London Transport Commissioner, said: "Access to toilets is important for all customers when using public transport, but is a vital enabler for some, especially older customers, people with disabilities and those with young children.

"We have developed a plan for a holistic multi-year programme to improve toilet facilities across the TfL network. This includes new facilities at stations currently without toilets, more accessible toilets, enhancing existing facilities and increasing the availability and accessibility of toilets. Our programme delivery team is now hard at work to turn this plan into improvements for our customers across the network."

John McGeachy Campaigns Manager at Age UK London, said: "One on five people do not leave home as much as they would like to, because of consideration around a lack of public toilets - it's called the 'loo leash'. When it comes to the transport network, that can mean some people deciding not to make a particular journey. Older people, like people of all ages, travel for work, for volunteering, to care for others, to shop, to volunteer, for health appointments, for social activities, to visit friends and much more - it can never be the case that a lack of loos becomes a barrier to any of those journeys.

"That's why the launch of TfL's programme and plan today is so welcome. We're grateful to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and staff across TfL for making the plan happen. The tireless work from campaigners for better provision has also been crucial. Public toilets are not something we talk about too often but the reality is that better provision can transform lives. If the plan is delivered in full it will make London much more welcoming for people of all ages."

There are currently toilets available at 145 TfL sites with an additional 40 toilets within stations on the network that are not managed by TfL. TfL has created a handy Toilet Tube Map, which shows all the toilet facilities across the TfL network, including baby changing facilities and those which are wheelchair accessible.

Staff are on hand in stations to advise customers of the nearest public and accessible toilet where toilets are not available to customers at the station, and to grant access to accessible toilets that may require a RADAR key. Disabled people can request a universal key called a RADAR key from Disability Rights UK which they can keep with them when they travel.  

All toilets across the TfL network are cleaned at least twice a day. Customers can report anything in relation to toilets to any member of station staff and TfL is also developing a toilet best practice design guide to ensure that any new or upgraded toilets meet relevant standards and regulations and are easy to maintain and less prone to abuse.  

TfL will now continue detailed assessments to determine the viability of work at each site. For more information on toilet provision across London's transport network view here - https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/public-toilets-in-london

Notes to editors

*A journey time of 20 minutes without changing lines was used for London Underground, London Overground and Elizabeth line services as an initial filter to identify where the gaps in provision are. Once the initial filter of a 20-minute journey time without access to a facility had been applied, a number of considerations were given a weighted scoring to determine the best locations to investigate the feasibility of adding new facilities. This exercise was carried out for all toilet provision and separately for accessible facilities, as some of our existing locations do not have accessible facilities.

About current toilet provision on TfL's network:

• A number of stations across the Tube, DLR, Elizabeth line and London Overground network have toilets, including accessible toilets and baby changing facilities
• More information about where toilets are located on the Underground can be found here -  https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/public-toilets-in-london
• There are more toilets located at outer London stations as journeys in central London are much shorter than those made from or to outer London
• New stations and upgrade projects must include accessible toilets as part of TfL's requirements. Where space is limited, accessible toilets will be prioritised over other types of public toilet provision
• New accessible toilets can be found at both Battersea and Nine Elms Tube stations as part of the Northern line extension project, as well as at the recently opened Barking Riverside London Overground station as part of the Barking Riverside extension project and at Hackney Downs London Overground station
• New toilets are now also available as part of the ticket hall upgrade project at Bank Tube station
• On the Elizabeth line, all east (Stratford to Shenfield) and west (Acton main line to Reading) Elizabeth line stations have customer toilets which can be used free of charge
• In the central section (Paddington to Abbey Wood), customer toilets are available at Abbey Wood and Farringdon stations. A wheelchair accessible toilet is available at Custom House and does not require a RADAR key. Wheelchair accessible toilets, which can be accessed via a RADAR key, are available at Abbey Wood, Tottenham Court Road, Whitechapel and Farringdon stations
• Staff are on hand to advise customers of the nearest public and/or wheelchair accessible toilet where toilets are not available to customers at the station