HS2 update
The Government has issued its second High Speed Two (HS2) update to Parliament.
The tunnel for HS2 into Oak Oak Common station was completed at the end of June 2025.
There are integrated plans for the Euston station campus alongside significant levels of local development, now the tunnel into there for HS2 will commence in Spring 2026. A Euston Delivery Company will be set up.
The Government is considering funding by private finance, development receipts, and potential local contributions such as tax increment financing, with a degree [more…]
TravelWatch 25th anniversary
London TravelWatch, the independent watchdog for the capital’s transport users, is marking 25 years with the launch of a brand new podcast, Talking Transport.
You can sign up for their newsletter.
Phantom Buses
We have all suffered frustrations waiting at a bus stop for a bus that the Countdown screen or our phone app says is due in three minutes, but takes much longer than that to arrive. We can usually put that down to traffic congestion, road works, etc.
But over the past few months, many of us have had the welcome experience of our bus suddenly arriving unannounced. It sets you up for the day. But how does the Countdown system lose TfL’s buses?
The system uses GPS, transponders and gyros [more…]
Tube fares to increase
There will be annual above-inflation fare increases in London until 2029 as a result of a direction in a letter by the Transport Secretary to the Mayor.
Sir Sadiq Khan has been told that Transport for London fares should rise by the RPI rate of inflation – currently 4.3 per cent – plus one per cent in each of the next four years.
The Government will be closely monitoring how TfL uses the grant it received in the 2025 Spending Review.
It is possible that the introduction of new Piccadilly [more…]
Response to ‘Towards a new London Plan’
We’ve formally responded to the consultation on ‘Towards a new London Plan’, which closed yesterday evening, following on from the presentation by the Deputy Mayor, Jules Pipe, at London Forum’s event on 13th May.
We used some AI tools to help summarise our answers to the long set of questions in a readable format, with the detailed summary now held in our ‘What we’ve said’ archive here.
A shorter summary can be found below:
Section 1: Introduction
London Forum expresses strong reservations about the imposed Government’s [more…]
Spending Review
Matthew Pennycook MP, MHCLG Minister, wrote to social housing providers about £39 billion in the Spring Statement 2025 for a successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years of starts from 2026-27. It prioritises social rent homes and funds affordable rent and shared ownership.
Sadiq Khan issued a statement regretting the Spending Review had no funding for new London transport infrastructure to support development. He wrote that without it “We will not be able to build the numbers of new affordable homes Londoners need.” and “The way [more…]
Illegal e-bikes
There is a comprehensive road.cc report on comments by Chris Boardman, the Active Travel England chief, on the problem of illegal e-bikes being able to be purchased easily, with associated dangers.
Mr Boardman said “Some of it is a trading standards problem, that we have got illegal and non-certified products coming into our market and people have said that they will buy batteries, chargers and bikes online if it’s cheaper, and they don’t mind if it’s non-brand. There’s a lot of risks associated with that, so I think there’s [more…]
The Freedom Pass, its Impact and Costs
London’s Freedom Pass was introduced in 1973, and it has had a profound impact on the lives of Londoners, particularly, of course, those with a disability and those over state-pensionable age. But its very success may cast its future into doubt as the numbers and proportions of older people among London’s residents continues to increase, and as fares rise ahead of inflation.
Eligibility
Freedom Pass
Eligibility has changed somewhat over the years. Until April 2010, the pass was available [more…]
Towards a new London Plan
The Mayor launched a consultation ‘Towards a new London Plan’, running to 22nd June 2025 as here. It will be explained by the Deputy Mayor, Jules Pipe, at London Forum’s event on 13th May. The GLA offers supporting videos on the key topics and online events are offered which can be booked here. A Call for Evidence facility can be used to make additional detailed input to the GLA. It was part of the ‘Planning for London Programme’ in 2023, the results of [more…]
E-bike safety
The Government published new independent research into the safety of e-bike and e-scooter lithium-ion batteries, chargers and e-bike conversion kits
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Manual for Streets update
Environmental Outcomes Reports
![Statutory consultees jigsaw - inspired by image by Markus Winkler [Unsplash] and made with AI](https://i0.wp.com/www.londonforum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Statutory_consultees.jpg?fit=1536%2C1024&ssl=1)
Statutory Consultees
Statutory consultees play an important role in the planning application process by providing expert advice on significant environmental, transport, safety, and heritage issues. There are currently 13 organisations that local planning authorities [more…]
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