A new safety alert has been issued about one of London’s busiest bus stations after drivers were found to be ignoring changes introduced after the death of a pedestrian.
The Health and Safety Executive sent Transport for London a “notification of contravention” after an unannounced visit to Walthamstow bus station in March.
HSE inspectors spotted bus drivers failing to allow pedestrians priority to cross to and from the bus station’s “central island”, where passengers board and alight from buses.
TfL had already made a series of changes to the bus station layout in a bid to improve safety in the wake of the death of a retired nurse a year-and-a-half ago.
Grace Mecaley, 74, was killed in a collision with a route 212 double decker at the bus station in December 2023.
TfL was initially served a contravention notice by the HSE in March 2024 in the wake of Ms Mecaley’s death.
The latest contravention notice was issued in March 2025 in response to concerns observed about “bus driver behaviour”.
TfL said it had “urgently communicated with all bus operators” to ensure drivers were reminded of the need to ensure passenger and pedestrian safety.
Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy raised concerns about pedestrian safety at the bus station when Seb Dance, the deputy mayor for transport, visited last month.
TfL has agreed to implement Ms Creasy’s suggestion of installing a CCTV camera to enable artificial intelligence to be used “to monitor pedestrian and driver behaviour”.
In Walthamstow this afternoon with @stellacreasy to see the safety improvements @TfL have made to the bus station.
— Seb Dance (@SebDance) April 11, 2025
Safety is the Mayor’s number one priority and TfL is committed to making the network safer for Londoners through its comprehensive Bus Safety Programme. pic.twitter.com/hg2B9F804K
A longer pedestrian guard rail may also be introduced in an attempt to mitigate the risk to pedestrians, and potential changes to the entrance/exit to the bus station on Selborne Road will be discussed with Waltham Forest council.
The 2024 HSE notice said TfL had failed to “provide safe crossings for vehicles and pedestrians” at Walthamstow bus station, which is located across the road from Walthamstow Central Tube and Overground train station.
The bus station – which is used by 19 bus routes including two Superloop routes - was closed for six weeks before Christmas 2024 to allow new pedestrian crossings to be added at its northern and western sides.
Lorna Murphy, TfL’s director of buses, said: “Every death on the transport network is devastating and all of our thoughts are with the family and friends of Grace Mecaley. We are determined to end the trauma caused by loss of life and injury on the transport network.
“It is very disappointing that there were contraventions by some bus drivers following completion of the works.
“We have taken immediate action in response to the notice from the HSE, alongside bus operators, implementing an enhanced programme of monitoring bus operations which will allow the gathering of valuable data and assess any potential safety concerns or trends, as well as further education and assurance activities.
“We remain committed, alongside bus operating companies, to drive major improvements in safety across the network as part of our comprehensive bus safety programme. We will not hesitate to take action where needed to keep people safe.”
According to TfL’s latest data, 86 people were killed or seriously injured in collisions involving London buses between January and March 2025, up from 80 in the same three-month period a year earlier.
Under the mayor’s Vision Zero target, TfL is meant to reduce the number of bus injuries and fatalities to zero by 2030.
The HSE said it would only release details of the notification it had sent to TfL if a request was made using freedom of information laws.
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