To: Lorna Murphy, Director of Buses, TfL
From: Kevin Mustafa
RE: Why do the Mayor and TfL refuse to protect London's Bus Drivers from Institutionally Unsafe Working Conditions?
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2026 1:20 PM
cc: Transport Commissioner; Deputy Mayor for Transport; Deputy Mayor for Social Justice and Communities, London Victims' Commissioner; TfL Walking and Cycling Commissioner; TfL Board Secretariat; TfL SSHR Panel Secretariat; TfL Chief Safety Officer; TfL Director of Bus; TfL Head of Insights and Direction; TfL Chief Operations Officer; London Assembly Transport Committee Members; CEO, London TravelWatch; Dan Tomlinson MP; Ben Coleman MP; Katie Lam MP; Olly Glover MP; Ruth Cadbury MP; Catherine Atkinson MP; Workplace Colleague Network - London Bus Forums; Sharon Graham - Unite the Union; Journalists; Bus Drivers; Campaigners
Dear Ms Murphy,
Thank you for your perfunctory response. Kindly note that I have recirculated it to everyone who was copied on my original email, as I have also done with my response today.
· TfL has yet to conduct "a short-term review of shift lengths, patterns and rotas of London bus drivers" recommended by the UCL Institute of Health Equity in March 2021 and agreed by TfL to complete "by summer 2021";
· One in Four London Bus Routes still lack Toilet Facilities at one end for Bus Drivers;
· Compared to 2024, in 2025 the number of Bus Drivers taken to hospital from Assault/Vandalism incidents increased by 17%.
Since (a) the Mayor has sole responsibility for Policing in London and (b) the unanimous London Assembly Motion called for the Mayor and TfL—
"to issue a public apology to Mr Hehir and to apply pressure to Metroline to reinstate Mr Hehir or provide appropriate compensation for his dismissal”
—I think you’ll find your complacent restatement of TfL's long-standing policy of ignoring Bus Driver welfare is deeply out-of-sync with both the Mayor’s legal obligations and the public mood.
According to TfL’s own data, over the period 1 January 2014-31 December 2025, an average of 7 Bus Drivers per month were reported by TfL as having been injured in Assault/Vandalism incidents on London’s buses, of which over one driver per month was taken to hospital.
Since I know that many Bus Drivers don’t report injuries they receive on duty, I believe TfL's numbers are underestimates.
Over the same 11-year period, an average of 15 people per month were reported injured from an Assault/Vandalism incident on buses and about 4 per month were taken to hospital.
I'd wager TfL’s numbers of passenger injuries from Assault/Vandalism incidents are also underestimates.
TfL’s data also reveal that Bus Drivers accounted for 41% of all reported injuries from Assault/Vandalism incidents and 46% of all those taken to hospital.
TfL's numbers reveal an obvious fact: Bus Drivers are not just casual victims of Assault/Vandalism incidents on London’s buses, they are the primary victims of this increasing violence.
Given this well-evidenced risk, when a Bus Driver chooses to intervene to defend a Bus Passenger against Assault/Vandalism and is subsequently dismissed for gross misconduct—and the Mayor, TfL and Unite the Union do nothing—the outcome of this complacency undermines the safety of London's Bus Network for which the Mayor and TfL are legally accountable.
And TfL's decision to side with Metroline against Mark Hehir—i.e., against someone who TfL’s own data shows had the highest risk of serious injury and the most to lose from intervening in an Assault/Vandalism incident—simply re-broadcasts a clear message, that I've been familiar with—
(a) since Bus Drivers started to sicken and die around me from Covid-19 6 years ago this month, and;
(b) each time the Mayor fails to respond to Bus Drivers' reasonable demand to incorporate the Bus Drivers Bill of Rights into TfL's Framework Bus Services Agreement:
—TfL takes no responsibility for the security and safety of London's Bus Drivers.
The London Assembly Motion also calls on the Mayor and TfL—
"to set out clear guidance for transport workers protecting passengers."
I do hope the London Assembly Members copied here will take note of the clear guidance your response conveyed:
TfL will support any Bus Operator which fires a Bus Driver who chooses to risk injury to protect Bus Passengers against Assault/Vandalism incidents on London's buses.
Why do the Mayor and TfL refuse to protect London's Bus Drivers?
Yours sincerely,
Kevin Mustafa
London Bus Safety Campaigner
Founding Member - Bus Driver Bill of Rights Campaign
-----------------ATTACHMENT------------------
From: Bus Ops FOIs & Inquiries <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2026 1:13:07 PM
To: Kevin Mustafa
Subject: RE: Subject Intervention Requested: Dismissal of Bus Driver Mark Hehir
Dear Kevin,
Please see below a response to your email from Lorna Murphy.
Dear Kevin,
Thank you for your email. As you are aware, bus services in London are delivered by private operators, such as Metroline, under contract to TfL. Operational matters, including staffing and employment decisions within individual companies, sit with those operators. As this issue relates to Metroline’s internal employment processes, it would not be appropriate for TfL to intervene. You may wish to raise your concerns directly with Metroline so they can address them through their established procedures.
Yours sincerely,
Lorna Murphy
Source: https://saferoxfordstreet.blogspot.com/2026/02/re-why-do-mayor-and-tfl-refuse-to.html
Auto-imported from Tom Kearney’s blog.
From: Kevin Mustafa
RE: Why do the Mayor and TfL refuse to protect London's Bus Drivers from Institutionally Unsafe Working Conditions?
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2026 1:20 PM
cc: Transport Commissioner; Deputy Mayor for Transport; Deputy Mayor for Social Justice and Communities, London Victims' Commissioner; TfL Walking and Cycling Commissioner; TfL Board Secretariat; TfL SSHR Panel Secretariat; TfL Chief Safety Officer; TfL Director of Bus; TfL Head of Insights and Direction; TfL Chief Operations Officer; London Assembly Transport Committee Members; CEO, London TravelWatch; Dan Tomlinson MP; Ben Coleman MP; Katie Lam MP; Olly Glover MP; Ruth Cadbury MP; Catherine Atkinson MP; Workplace Colleague Network - London Bus Forums; Sharon Graham - Unite the Union; Journalists; Bus Drivers; Campaigners
Dear Ms Murphy,
Thank you for your perfunctory response. Kindly note that I have recirculated it to everyone who was copied on my original email, as I have also done with my response today.
As you probably know from my earlier letters to City Hall and TfL (cf. Speaking out against London Buses’ Culture of Fear, 19 August 2021), my decision to quit the buses and campaign for the Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights was inspired by the fact that, six years ago today, Bus Drivers were being abandoned by their Bus Operator employers, Unite the Union, TfL and the Mayor when they started getting sick and dying from Covid-19. Your response confirms that, despite at least 76 Bus Drivers dying from Covid-19, nothing has changed.
· TfL has yet to conduct "a short-term review of shift lengths, patterns and rotas of London bus drivers" recommended by the UCL Institute of Health Equity in March 2021 and agreed by TfL to complete "by summer 2021";
· One in Four London Bus Routes still lack Toilet Facilities at one end for Bus Drivers;
· Compared to 2024, in 2025 the number of Bus Drivers taken to hospital from Assault/Vandalism incidents increased by 17%.
Since (a) the Mayor has sole responsibility for Policing in London and (b) the unanimous London Assembly Motion called for the Mayor and TfL—
"to issue a public apology to Mr Hehir and to apply pressure to Metroline to reinstate Mr Hehir or provide appropriate compensation for his dismissal”
—I think you’ll find your complacent restatement of TfL's long-standing policy of ignoring Bus Driver welfare is deeply out-of-sync with both the Mayor’s legal obligations and the public mood.
According to TfL’s own data, over the period 1 January 2014-31 December 2025, an average of 7 Bus Drivers per month were reported by TfL as having been injured in Assault/Vandalism incidents on London’s buses, of which over one driver per month was taken to hospital.
Since I know that many Bus Drivers don’t report injuries they receive on duty, I believe TfL's numbers are underestimates.
Over the same 11-year period, an average of 15 people per month were reported injured from an Assault/Vandalism incident on buses and about 4 per month were taken to hospital.
I'd wager TfL’s numbers of passenger injuries from Assault/Vandalism incidents are also underestimates.
TfL’s data also reveal that Bus Drivers accounted for 41% of all reported injuries from Assault/Vandalism incidents and 46% of all those taken to hospital.
As you no doubt know, over the period for which TfL has made bus safety data available for public scrutiny, Bus Drivers—on average—have only constituted an infinitesimal (0.0011%!) of the total number of annual Bus Passengers. Hence, I think you’ll agree with me that the fact that Bus Drivers are 80,000 times more likely than a passenger to be injured and 40,000 times more likely than a passenger to be taken to the hospital in an Assault/Vandalism incident on London's buses demands that TfL do more than just abdicate responsibility for Bus Drivers' safety and security.
TfL's numbers reveal an obvious fact: Bus Drivers are not just casual victims of Assault/Vandalism incidents on London’s buses, they are the primary victims of this increasing violence.
Given this well-evidenced risk, when a Bus Driver chooses to intervene to defend a Bus Passenger against Assault/Vandalism and is subsequently dismissed for gross misconduct—and the Mayor, TfL and Unite the Union do nothing—the outcome of this complacency undermines the safety of London's Bus Network for which the Mayor and TfL are legally accountable.
And TfL's decision to side with Metroline against Mark Hehir—i.e., against someone who TfL’s own data shows had the highest risk of serious injury and the most to lose from intervening in an Assault/Vandalism incident—simply re-broadcasts a clear message, that I've been familiar with—
(a) since Bus Drivers started to sicken and die around me from Covid-19 6 years ago this month, and;
(b) each time the Mayor fails to respond to Bus Drivers' reasonable demand to incorporate the Bus Drivers Bill of Rights into TfL's Framework Bus Services Agreement:
—TfL takes no responsibility for the security and safety of London's Bus Drivers.
Since we already know that TfL’s "incident reporting system does not specifically collect data relating to disciplinary outcomes” regarding Bus Drivers, your statement that it "would not be appropriate for TfL to intervene" rings hollow: the public record shows that TfL completely washes its hands of how Bus Drivers are disciplined by their employers.
The London Assembly Motion also calls on the Mayor and TfL—
"to set out clear guidance for transport workers protecting passengers."
I do hope the London Assembly Members copied here will take note of the clear guidance your response conveyed:
TfL will support any Bus Operator which fires a Bus Driver who chooses to risk injury to protect Bus Passengers against Assault/Vandalism incidents on London's buses.
Why do the Mayor and TfL refuse to protect London's Bus Drivers?
Yours sincerely,
Kevin Mustafa
London Bus Safety Campaigner
Founding Member - Bus Driver Bill of Rights Campaign
-----------------ATTACHMENT------------------
From: Bus Ops FOIs & Inquiries <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2026 1:13:07 PM
To: Kevin Mustafa
Subject: RE: Subject Intervention Requested: Dismissal of Bus Driver Mark Hehir
Dear Kevin,
Please see below a response to your email from Lorna Murphy.
Dear Kevin,
Thank you for your email. As you are aware, bus services in London are delivered by private operators, such as Metroline, under contract to TfL. Operational matters, including staffing and employment decisions within individual companies, sit with those operators. As this issue relates to Metroline’s internal employment processes, it would not be appropriate for TfL to intervene. You may wish to raise your concerns directly with Metroline so they can address them through their established procedures.
Yours sincerely,
Lorna Murphy
Source: https://saferoxfordstreet.blogspot.com/2026/02/re-why-do-mayor-and-tfl-refuse-to.html
Auto-imported from Tom Kearney’s blog.