TfL to build 53 new toilets for London bus drivers

Transport for London (TfL) is to build 53 new toilet facilities for bus drivers over the next three years, as part of efforts to ensure suitable facilities are available on every London bus route.

The announcement follows a recent strike threat over conditions for bus drivers during heatwaves, which saw an agreement to install air conditioning in drivers’ cabs.

TfL says it will invest a further £6 million in driver welfare facilities during the current financial year. The programme will focus partly on areas where provision is currently limited. Although most of London’s almost 700 bus routes have suitable toilets at one or both termini, six routes still lack facilities at either end. Drivers on those routes currently have to use toilets elsewhere along the route or walk from the terminus.

TfL says it is accelerating plans to install a toilet at one terminus on each of those six routes, subject to agreeing suitable locations with local authorities and other landowners.

A further ten routes have toilets at their termini, but the facilities are not open during all the hours buses operate. TfL is also seeking to provide drivers on those routes with access throughout their shifts.

TfL says it has spent £24.5 million on facilities including toilets and mess rooms since 2016 and that 154 locations have received either a new toilet or refurbished facilities during that period.

The latest programme has been developed following discussions with the Unite union and comes amid wider efforts to improve working conditions for the capital’s bus drivers.

Sadiq Khan said it was an “absolute priority” to ensure every driver had the facilities needed to work safely and comfortably.

TfL’s Director of Streets and Network Operations, Carl Eddleston, said: “Drivers rightly expect to have the facilities they need to carry out their roles safely and comfortably, which is why we’re committed to investing in better toilet facilities for drivers.”

The announcement follows an agreement between TfL, City Hall, bus operators and Unite to ensure all driver cabs meet updated air-conditioning and ventilation standards by the end of May 2027.

The agreement is part of the work of the ‘Extreme Weather Taskforce’, which brings together representatives from City Hall and TfL with Unite the Union and London’s bus operators to improve working conditions for drivers during periods of extreme weather.