METROLINE TOPS LONDON BUS OPERATOR LIST FOR MOST INJURIES CAUSED BY COLLISIONS WITH 635 INJURIES SINCE 2014 AS GMB CALLS FOR LONDON MAYOR TO IMPLEMENT BUS DRIVERS BILL OF RIGHTS AND CHANGE CONTRACT TO REDUCE COLLISIONS
2.7 people per day have been injured in TFL bus collisions and of those an average of 4.3 people have been killed or seriously injured every week over five years says GMB London
A new study by GMB London of official data from Transport for London (TFL) for injuries arising from collisions by outsourced bus operators in London shows that in the 5 years since 2014 a total of 4,942 people have been injured, of which 49 were killed and 1,068 were taken to hospital.
This has led GMB to call on the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to implement a London Bus Drivers ‘Bill of Rights’ and amend bus operator’s contracts to protect both drivers and pedestrians from bus collisions.
The study shows the number of collisions caused by each of the 24 bus operators contracted by TfL to service London’s many bus routes.
The study shows that Metroline tops the list for total injuries arisen from collisions by bus operator. In the five years from 2014, collisions by Metroline buses have caused 635 total injuries, including 7 fatal and 7 requiring hospital attention.
Second on the list is Arriva London North, which were involved in collisions leading to 627 total injuries, including 7 fatal and 21 requiring hospital attendance. Over the same period Arriva London North made around £80.82 million in pre-tax profits. This means that for every 7.76 injuries caused by a collision involving an Arriva London North bus, the company made £1 million in profit.
Next on the list is the East London Bus Company, with 597 total injuries caused by collisions, including 5 fatal and 8 requiring hospital attendance. East London bus company made a pre-tax profit of £19.72 million over that time, equating to around 30 injuries for every £1 million made in profit.
London General Bus Company is next on the list with 441 total injuries, 4 fatal and 17 requiring hospital attendance. London General is the key subsidiary of the Go Ahead Group which also includes London Central (296 injuries, 5 fatal, 14 hospitalised), Metrobus (189 injuries, 2 fatal, 9 hospitalised), Blue Triangle Buses (65 injuries, 5 hospitalised) and Docklands Buses (28 injuries). These companies help make up the total profit of £203.39 million for London General between 2014 and 2018. For London General alone that is 2.17 injuries for every million made in profit.
A previous study by the GMB showed that the City of Westminster was the London Borough which experienced the most incidents involving bus collisions with 350 injuries between 2014 and 2018.
