Detailed plans on how Oxford Street will be part-pedestrianised may not emerge for more than a year, key documents published by Transport for London suggest.
TfL’s draft budget submission for the next financial year says that it will “support the GLA [Greater London Authority] to develop proposals for the regeneration of Oxford Street, with consultation anticipated in early 2026”.
Mayor Sadiq Khan first announced his intention to make a renewed attempt to pedestrianise the western end of the street in September, and later told The Standard he hoped to make progress within 12 to 18 months.
But if TfL does not launch a consultation on how it plans to re-route buses from Oxford Street or make other transport-related changes until “early 2026”, it will be summer 2026 at the earliest before the results are analysed and Mr Khan can decide how to proceed.
Mr Khan has already said that cyclists will be banned from Oxford Street under the proposed changes.
Cyclists will be BANNED from the pedestrianised section of Oxford St, says @SadiqKhan pic.twitter.com/ckzSFEp1fP
— Ross Lydall (@RossLydall) September 17, 2024
A City Hall spokeswoman said: “This is a phased project with the first consultations beginning in early 2025 and an examination of alternative bus routes expected to be before the end of the year.
“There are likely to be subsequent consultations for later phases in 2026 and beyond.”
Mr Khan has already run into opposition from residents’ groups after he proposed establishing a mayoral development corporation to oversee the changes.
He is establishing an “Oxford Street office” with about 15 staff and aims to redesignate the nation’s most famous high street as a TfL road – removing it from the control of Westminster council.
The TfL draft budget for 2025/26 includes “further development of the proposals to pedestrianise Oxford Street” as part of the wider initiative on “safe and healthy streets”.
Spending in this area will increase in line with inflation on projects such as the Vision Zero initiative to end road deaths by 2041 and increasing the number of bus lanes.
A total of £10m is included in the budget towards the initial phases of Superloop 2, Mr Khan’s plan to double the express bus network in outer London. This will include a “Bakerloop” route following the route of the proposed Bakerloo line extension.
TfL has received £485m in capital funding from the Government for 2025/26, which includes £24m towards the cost of 10 new trains for the Elizabeth line.
TfL commissioner Andy Lord said the extra funding would enable it to “progress plans” for replacing the 50-year-old trains on the Bakerloo line – but would “only be able to move into delivery” if there is certainty over TfL’s longer-term funding.
Mr Lord said the funding for the 10 Elizabeth line trains, which will cost a total of £222m, “was committed by the previous [Tory] government”.
Speaking to the London Assembly, he added: “The first of these will arrive towards the end of 2026.”
However, because the Government’s spending review is not expected until April or May 2025, TfL has not produced its own medium-term business plan.
Its submission to the spending review will set out how much more money it needs to convert all 8,500 London buses to zero emission by 2030. About 1,750 buses are currently zero emission, mostly because they are battery-electric powered rather than diesel.
The draft 2025/26 budget includes a pledge to prepare a Transport and Works Act Order to extend the DLR to Thamesmead.
Other key schemes, such as the West London Orbital rail link and Bakerloo Line Tube extension, “will progress through the next stage of feasibility”.
In addition, TfL will “seek to collaborate with government on the development of rail devolution and metroisation, with an initial focus on the Great Northern franchise”.
TfL says it is “committed to supporting the extension of HS2 to Euston” but the improvement works required at Euston and Euston Square Underground stations are not funded within TfL's plans.
