Survivors of accidents on London’s transport network and relatives of those killed this week accused the transport authority of failing to take responsibility, reports Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

Sadiq Khan has said Transport for London (TfL) must not “victim blame” when a death or serious injury occurs on the capital’s tube and bus network.

The mayor’s warning comes as survivors of accidents on the network, and relatives of those who have been killed or injured, this week accused the transport authority of failing to take responsibility where due.

TfL has said safety is its “top priority” and that it is taking “every possible measure to learn from any incident and put in place appropriate improvements”.

In 2021, Melissa Burr, 32, was killed at Victoria Bus Station when a bus driver pressed the accelerator instead of the brake.

Her mother Trish was forced into fighting TfL’s claim that Melissa had been walking between two buses when she died, when she was actually on a pedestrian walkway when she was hit. TfL apologised for the error last month.

But the suggestion that it was somehow Melissa’s fault, Burr told the Financial Times this week, was incredibly hurtful.

In 2022, Sarah de Lagarde lost her right arm and leg after she fell through the gap between the train and the platform at High Barnet Station, and was run over by two trains.

In a statement to the media outside the Royal Courts of Justice earlier this year, she said: “TfL initially concluded that I fell because I was drunk and wearing high heels, neither of which were true.”

Asked whether TfL needs to change its culture in terms of its response to serious incidents, the mayor told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I raised this with TfL’s management team yesterday, and there cannot be a situation where there appears to be, or there is, victim blaming [of] anybody hurt using public transport across London.

“I want to apologise if any family feels that way – some of it for good reason, by the way, [that] they feel that way. That shouldn’t happen. The [TfL] commissioner himself has apologised for that.”

Khan added: “TfL needs to always understand that we’re talking about human beings who have suffered injury or families who are grieving because of the loss of a loved one. That’s got to be the starting point.

“At the same time, we’ve got to reduce the number of injuries in London and people losing their lives. It’s no consolation to me that last year was the lowest numbers of deaths and serious injuries [caused by collisions on London’s roads], aside from the pandemic year, because there are still too many people being hurt and seriously injured.

“So we’ve got to make sure we improve. At the same time, when things do go wrong, we can’t, we mustn’t and we never should, victim-blame.”

TfL said almost four million journeys were made each weekday on the tube, and insisted: “The safety of our staff and customers is our top priority and the tube is recognised as one of the safest metros around the world.”

It said cameras were being improved to give tube drivers a clearer view of passengers on platforms, and work had been carried out to reduce some gaps between the train and platform.

In addition, platform announcements and ‘Mind the Gap’ signs were used to highlight potential risks.

TfL’s ‘Vision Zero’ target is to eliminate road deaths by 2041. As an interim target, it for nobody to be killed on or by a bus by 2030.

Lilli Matson, TfL’s chief safety, health and environment officer, said: “Our thoughts remain with all of those impacted by loss of life and injury on the transport network. Every death and serious incident on the transport network is devastating and we have support available for those affected.

“We are committed to learning from every incident and use a rigorous evidence-based approach to this, using data and incident reports to put in place changes through targeted programmes that make the transport network safer for everyone.

“Accurate reporting and transparency are a vital part of our industry-leading approach to safety and we are committed to making data publicly available, including through our website.

“We recognise that serious incidents on the network should never happen and we are determined to address this by listening to the experiences of those who are affected and taking appropriate action to keep people safe.”

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