London Underground movement relies on 800-strong vehicle fleet

Maintaining the vast London Underground network of 270 stations and 250 miles of track requires a host of Transport for London (TfL) departments working together as part of a huge logistical operation.

One of those departments is West London-based Vehicle Logistics, which provides hundreds of vehicles to take engineers and other skilled workers and equipment to jobs at different stations throughout the capital, mostly throughout the night when the sites are closed to the public.

The 800-strong fleet is predominantly made up of vans, but also includes 20 heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), a small number of cars and around 10 fire engine-type vehicles which respond to emergencies or train breakdowns. For example, they were among the first responders to the Croydon tram crash in November 2016, in which seven people died and more than 60 were injured.

The fleet is used to maintain TfL’s infrastructure, including the London Underground, trams, overground lines and the Elizabeth Line, due to open later this year (May).

Its refuse collection trucks play a vital role, as fleet compliance manager Tim Dawes explains:

“Collecting rubbish from every station is a vitally important job. If we don’t collect it on time, then it becomes a fire hazard and stations can be shut down.”

Other HGVs within the fleet are used to transport large underground train-related items, such as wheel sets that require workshop attention.