Transport for London ‘faces biggest challenge in its history’
Transport for London (TfL) is facing the “biggest event and challenge” in its history as more than one million people are expected to travel to the center of the capital to pay their respects to the Queen, according to its boss.
Andy Byford, the organisation’s commissioner, said planning the Queen’s funeral and funeral was more complicated than the 2012 Olympics because it was “impossible” to predict the exact size of the crowd.
TfL is “accustomed to dealing with large crowds” and will take measures such as temporarily restricting access to the busiest Tube stations and diverting passengers to other stations to “spread the load”, he said.
Mr Byford added that the situation was being managed “minute by minute” from a command center along with other agencies and government departments.
London Underground stations near Buckingham Palace saw a surge in ridership following the Queen’s death on Thursday.
Mr Byford said: “The most recent approximation or estimate is that there will potentially be around 750,000 people on the bed queue, which in itself is a huge number.
“But then if you take the whole 10 days of mourning and the various events that happen during it – obviously some have happened elsewhere – but even the London element of it, we’re talking north of a million people.
“So that’s huge. This is the biggest event and challenge that TfL has faced in its history and we must rise to the challenge.”