Updated guidance issued for capital鈥檚 contractors

Transport for London has issued for the industry about reducing the number of workers using the Tube network to get to sites in the capital.

It says firms should encourage workers to walk or cycle to site, stagger opening times and liaise with neighbouring jobs about when they start in order to cut congestion at hotspot stations.

tfl cycle

Source: Shutterstock

TfL is hoping to persuade builders to cycle into work

Ministers were alarmed by images earlier this month of packed stations and carriages during the latest lockdown, prompting Construction Leadership Council co-chair Andy Mitchell to send out an email warning firms of the 鈥渧ery real risk鈥 of them imposing restrictions if the situation did not improve.

Earlier this week, TfL said the message the industry was given to cut overcrowding was only slowly getting through.

鈥淭he number of passengers [last week] will be very similar to what we experienced in the prior week, so we haven鈥檛 seen much change in terms of pure numbers,鈥 a spokesperson told 黑洞社区. 鈥淒espite that, we have seen slightly less crowding.鈥

TfL said it had produced specific advice for sites in areas of concentrated construction activity. These include Vauxhall Nine Elms, Westminster, the City, Canary Wharf and Stratford.

An emergency summit on the issue was held two weeks ago, the day after Mitchell鈥檚 message, with representatives from TfL and the business department joining 40 chief executives of London鈥檚 biggest contractors to work out how to cut the numbers using the network.

Ministers have made it clear they want construction to keep working but contractors have been warned they will not tolerate scenes of packed tube stations and carriages.