South London suffers from longest stretch of ‘loo deserts’ on Tube network

By Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

Large sections of London’s Tube network have been dubbed “loo deserts”, in a new report looking at toilet provisions on the Underground.

The London Loo League Table report warns that less than a quarter of stations in zones 1-3 have toilets, and that their availability varies wildly between Tube lines.

Authored by Caroline Russell, a Green member of the London Assembly, the research says that while 83 per cent of Metropolitan line stations have loos, the same is true of just 27 per cent on the Northern line.

The longest stretch without toilets was found on the Northern line between Morden and Kennington, with passengers having to wait until the next stop at Elephant & Castle to find facilities.

Another ‘loo desert’ is found on the District line between Wimbledon Park and Bayswater – a gap of a 10 stops, taking 22 minutes.

Even the most modern stations can lack loos, the report points out – with the Elizabeth line missing toilets at three stations, including Bond Street and Canary Wharf.

Ms Russell said: “Londoners shouldn’t have to cross their legs and hope on the Tube.

“A properly accessible public transport system must include toilets and information on where to find them.

“This is essential for everyone, especially older and disabled people who may be restricted from travelling by a ‘loo leash’.”

The study referred to by Ms Russell was promised by Sadiq Khan in February, after Labour Assembly Members voted down a Green proposal to immediately create 70 new toilets across the transport network, at a cost of £20m.

In response to Ms Russell’s report, Mark Evers, TfL’s chief customer officer, said: “We recognise that toilet provision is absolutely essential for customer care and particularly so for older and disabled customers.

“We are working at pace on our study into improving toilets, and are committed to sharing this with our stakeholders and to working closely with them to gain a greater understanding of where we can improve facilities and identify suitable further opportunities for more toilets.”

Commenting on the delay earlier this month, a TfL spokesman said: “We are committed to conducting a study into improving and expanding toilet facilities on the network, and recognise toilet provision is important for customer care and particularly for disabled customers.

“Early work on this study is already underway and we will be sharing the feasibility study documents with our stakeholders in the coming weeks as we want to work closely with them to gain a greater understanding of where we can improve facilities and identify suitable further opportunities for more toilets.”

The Loo League Table of lines on the Tube map, given in the report, is as follows:

1.) Elizabeth Line 95 per cent (93 per cent accessible)

2.) Metropolitan – 83 per cent (29 per cent accessible)

3.) Jubilee – 63 per cent (52 per cent accessible)

4.) Central – 59 per cent (16 per cent accessible)

5.) Piccadilly – 55 per cent (19 per cent accessible)

6.) Waterloo & City – 50 per cent (50 per cent accessible)

7.) Victoria – 44 per cent (25 per cent accessible)

8.) District – 42 per cent (25 per cent accessible)

9.) Bakerloo – 32 per cent (24 per cent accessible)

10.) Circle – 29 per cent (23 per cent accessible)

11.) Overground – 28 per cent (26 per cent accessible)

12.) Hammersmith & City – 28 per cent (24 per cent accessible)

13.) Northern Line – 27 per cent (21 per cent accessible)

14.) DLR – 11 per cent (11 per cent accessible)

15.) Tram – 10 per cent (8 per cent accessible)

(Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Dan Roizer)