Transport for London (TfL) has unveiled two new customer toilets at Morden Underground station as part of the Mayor of London’s wider plans to invest £15m in toilets for customers on the TfL network. The station is the first on the London Underground network to benefit from new toilets in this new phase of work.
The absence of toilets can be a barrier for people travelling by public transport. In 2024 the Mayor committed to spending £3 million each year for five years to introduce toilets at select stations, increase the number of accessible toilets, enhance existing facilities, and improve overall availability so that customers are always within 20 minutes of a toilet without having to change trains.
A gender-neutral toilet and an accessible toilet, both with baby changing facilities, are now available at Morden where the former ticket office was situated. Morden is the first London Underground station to benefit from new toilets following the Mayor’s commitment, as well as the first station on the southernmost section of the Northern line’s Morden branch to offer facilities. It has been prioritised due to it being a terminus.
Accessible toilet facilities opened last year at Clapton, Seven Sisters and White Hart Lane London Overground stations as part of the programme. New accessible toilets will be installed next at New Cross Gate and then Acton Central London Overground stations. Work is currently underway at Amersham Underground station, where major refurbishment works will convert existing customer toilets into fully accessible facilities. Further new accessible toilets will be installed at Colindale, Leyton, Northolt and West Ham Underground stations, as well as at Surrey Quays London Overground station as part of wider station enhancement works.
Midlife refurbishments of existing toilet facilities – which can include new fixtures, fittings, flooring and tiles for a cleaner and more modern environment – were recently completed at High Barnet Underground station and Willesden Junction London Overground station. Refurbishment works are now underway at Penge West and Crystal Palace London Overground stations, with further locations due to start work soon, including Stanmore and Watford Underground stations as well as Bush Hill Park and Enfield Town London Overground stations. A further 37 locations on the TfL network have had an LED lighting upgrade in their toilets, for improved energy efficiency and ambiance.
Emma Strain, TfL’s Customer Director, said: “We know that for many people, not being able to access a toilet can be the difference between going out on the network or not, which can have a disruptive and devastating impact on their lives. The opening of these new toilets at Morden is a significant milestone in our work to increase and improve provision on our network, building on our programme of improved facilities at Tube stations across the capital, and ties into our commitment to make our wider network as fair, accessible and inclusive as possible.”
