Injured and bereaved call for urgent action to improve safety on London transport
Tap above to watch video report by Helen Keenan
People who have been injured or bereaved by incidents on the Transport for London network have gathered in Westminster to call for better safety.
Figures revealed on average 21 people a month have fallen between the train and the platform on the London Underground between 2014 and 2023.
A TfL Heath and Safety report also found 86 people died or were seriously injured in bus collisions in the last three months of 2023-24.
Campaigners want urgent government action to ensure TfL addresses safety concerns and a statutory duty to be introduced that requires more transparency after deaths, injuries or near misses on the network.
Sarah de Lagarde is among those looking for change. She was struck by two London Underground trains while travelling on the Northern Line, resulting in the amputation of her right arm and right leg.
She said the fact that she survived was "nothing short of a miracle".
Speaking to ITV News London, Ms de Largarde said: "I was very able-bodied before and within 24 hours I've become disabled for life ... my message is really to raise awareness that these incidents happen way more often than TfL would like us to believe."
The mother of two, who describes herself as '80 per cent human, 20 per cent robot', added that she felt "disappointed" and "not heard" by TfL's response to her case.
She said: "It seems customary for TfL to push the responsibility onto the commuter and I believe that 'Please Mind the Gap' is not enough to protect commuters.
"I worry about a decaying network that is in dire need of innovation and I believe the further we go on like this, the more people will get seriously injured of lose their lives."
Kathleen Finnegan died after being hit by a double-decker bus at Victoria Station earlier this year.
Her friend, Sarah Sivas, told ITV News: " I think there's quite a big PR operation to try and present what they want to present.
"They say safety is our number one priority it's what we see in every piece of information that they publish.
"But it doesn't reflect in how they behave towards people who are bereaved.
"They need to think and listen to what we're saying because it could in fact improve things for them and it could improve things for London transport users."
Lilli Matson, TfL's Chief Safety, Health and Environment Officer, said deaths and serious incidents on the transport network are "devastating".
She added: “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.”
Sadiq Khan: "I was with the TfL management team yesterday expressing my concern about any sort of victim blaming.
"Anybody who's injured using public transport in around London mustn't feel it's their fault and they mustn't certainly have fingers pointed at them directly or indirectly by TfL.
"I apologise if any family has felt they're being blamed as a consequence of being hurt in London.
"We've got an ambition to have zero injuries and deaths in London ... We've reduced year on year injuries in London, injuries on our roads, except for the pandemic, last year was the with the fewest number of deaths and serious injuries."
The Department for Transport did not comment as it does not have oversight of TfL.
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