Croydon council signs deal to replace the bus shelters it removed
Transport for London (TfL) has stepped in to help Croydon Council replace over 100 of its bus shelters after the council ripped them out a few years ago.
Croydon Council was one of the handful of London boroughs that managed its own bus shelters, and in November 2021, signed a deal with a private company, VALO Smart City to replace its old bus shelters with new ones, funded by advertising and a range of other “smart city” tools. The council was offered at least £6 million over the next decade for the deal.
However, although the council started removing the old bus shelters, the private company never followed through with its side of the deal and appears to have closed down. The council terminated the contract in 2023 and is now pursuing what might be left of the company for compensation.
Now, TfL has stepped in to help replace the removed bus shelters, and over 100 will be installed under the new deal with the council.
Where shelters are being replaced, they will have the same functionality as the previous ones – so no smart displays or screens, but will generally have countdown screens where those were in place before.
Under the new contract, TfL will also maintain and clean the bus shelters — and it will also keep the revenue from advertising on the bus shelters, which goes to TfL to cover the cost of providing the shelters.
The contract was agreed last July, but has only now come into effect, with the first bus shelters now being installed.
The majority of the new shelters should in in place by Easter, and the list of locations is here.
Carl Eddleston, TfL’s Director of Network Management and Resilience, said: “These new bus shelters will provide much needed travel infrastructure to the residents of Croydon and we’re delighted to be installing these new shelters. London’s bus network plays a vital role in keeping the capital moving and we hope that these new shelters will encourage more local residents to use the network. We’ll continue to work with the Croydon Council and all boroughs to improve our infrastructure and enable more people to choose sustainable forms of travel.”
A typical Croydon Council disaster, good that TfL are saving the day. Shame that there aren’t many with countdowns.
About time !