BDC Magazine - Online version December 2015 Issue - 216 | Page 125

TFL.qxp_feature 2 21/10/2015 15:23 Page 123

TRANSPORT: TRANSPORT FOR LONDON

wheelchairs. With less than a quarter of
stations currently offering step-free
access, Camden's revamp (as well as the
renovation of Bond Street) marks the
organisation's close relationship with
Transport For All (TfA), and their mutual ambition to make mobility universally
available for, as Faryal Velmi, Director
of TfL points out, “You can’t build
something costing £15 billion without
making it fully accessible to all.”
It's also passengers who are TfL's main
point of consultancy: as of October this
year, questionnaires have been made
available at selected tube stations, allowing service users to detail their journey
and note any issues. Such consumer
insight will enable the organisation to
develop future projects – including the
scheduling of train services, modernisation of the infrastructure and work at
transport interchanges.
Because of the nature of TfL, as a public body supported by neither shareholders
nor a parent company, all of its £11.5 billion annual income is reinvested into the
maintenance and enhancement of its
services. Dedicating over a third of such
income to future projects, the organisation recognises the importance of sustained improvement. And with over 1 billion passengers using the tube per year,
and that number only set to increase, it's
of vital importance that worthwhile
investment is made into, not only the
improvement of its lines, or the innovation of its vehicles, but the stations themselves – which, as we understand, bear the
brunt of the foot traffic.
With Londoners making six times as
many rail trips as the national average, TfL
is under enormous pressure to continue to
provide a progressive service on which all
can depend. Doing just that, TfL is making
London evermore connected, updating its
network and providing a modern infrastructure in parallel; the future of London
transportation assured.
www.tfl.gov.uk

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