Victoria bus crash: 'More people will die'

Three weeks after the death of Kathleen Finnegan, who was hit by a bus at Victoria bus station in January, Transport for London (TfL) had still not contacted her family.

Many people had been in touch offering their condolences, but there had been nothing from the transport authority.

The family had many questions about what happened and had to enlist the help of Kathleen’s local MP, Sir Ed Davey. Only after his intervention did TfL start to engage with the family, setting up a meeting in May.

Rosie Trew, TfL's head of bus service delivery, said in a statement that "safety is our utmost priority and we are committed to learning from every collision".

What happened with TfL was, according to the family, a red flag.

Mary Featherstone is Kathleen’s sister. She says her death has changed their lives hugely: “She was a lovely sister to all of us. She loved each one of us individually and her nieces and nephews; she never forgot anybody.

"Our lives will never be the same since Kathleen went. It has caused huge trauma to the family.”

Along with other family members, Kathleen’s niece, Katrina Finnegan, is trying to get answers about what happened.

“She was a wonderful aunt, she was witty, she was very honest," Katrina tells BBC London. "She was home here in Ireland at Christmas and she was extremely happy. She met my daughter for the first time and she loved her grand-nieces and nephews.”

Katrina says the way they were dealt with was unacceptable.

“Kathleen was one of nine pedestrians killed in collisions with buses in a six-month period from the 1st of October to the 31st of March this year so that's an average of one every three weeks.

“We would have presumed they had a process in place to contact the families through our family liaison officer. This wasn't the case, we never heard from them at all.

“Following our meeting they said they reflected on this; they were putting a process in place to acknowledge families now. And we just feel given the statistics and the human impact of these collisions, that it was not acceptable the way Transport for London reacted.

“Silence is not acceptable when people are being killed by buses, especially nine in six months. We have written to the commissioner of Transport for London Andy Lord and we have asked him to draft a code of candour with us, which would set out requirements in the case of these fatal bus collisions that they have to contact families and they have to offer support and they have to offer an apology when things go wrong with safety, as with what happened with Kathleen.

“The silence was troubling considering the amount of crashes and fatalities that take place.”

Kathleen’s family have been asking questions of Transport for London about what happened. They have requested to see a safety report carried out at Victoria bus station before Kathleen’s death but it has not been forthcoming.

Kathleen grew up in Galway in western Ireland but lived and worked in London most of her life after emigrating as a teenager. In London, she was known as Catherine. Her family still lives in Ireland.

The 56-year-old, who lived in New Malden in south-west London, was a property executive who also volunteered for homeless charities.

Kathleen wasn’t the first woman to die at Victoria bus station. Melissa Burr was killed while using a pedestrian crossing there in August 2021. Another woman was hit by a bus this summer and seriously injured.

In documents released to the victims' families about Victoria bus station at the time of Melissa Burr’s death, the Health and Safety Executive inspector said: “I identified contraventions of health and safety law”, adding that “the risk assessment is not deemed suitable and sufficient” and “highway conventions were being used but in an unconventional way which could lead to confusion".

Katrina says the family fears the station still wasn’t safe at the time of Kathleen’s death.

“We were shocked by what we saw when we read the risk assessment," she said. "It was incomplete; there was no assessment done for pedestrians using Victoria station. We were shocked by this, considering safety is the main priority for Transport for London.”

TfL carried at works at Victoria bus station before Kathleen’s death to make it safer. So far requests for the risk assessment of Victoria station at the time of Kathleen’s death haven’t been forthcoming.

There are echoes of the Croydon tram crash, with families again searching for answers and so far not being given them.

The families want to know if there is a culture of pressure being put on drivers. Is fatigue an issue? And why does Victoria bus station seem to be a hot-spot for bus collisions with pedestrians?

“I’ve been to Victoria bus station, I do believe that Transport for London need to look at Victoria bus station and perhaps moving the station," Katrina says.

“Nothing was done after Kathleen’s death at Victoria bus station but from what I’ve seen I don’t think it is safe for pedestrians.”

Mary Featherstone agrees: “It’s very, very busy. Extremely busy, so I’m not surprised in some regards there hasn’t been more accidents there. I think it could be pretty dangerous, yes I do. The safety aspect needs looking at again, without a doubt.”

Since 2014, according to City Hall, 80 people have been killed in collisions with London buses, six of them at stations.

Katrina says: “We want to see how they investigate these incidents and we want to see if the bus contracts are having an indirect impact on safety. The drivers are under a lot of pressure. I would be concerned about the working hours of drivers.”

If that number of deaths had happened on the Tube or the railways, recommendations would be made to prevent future deaths by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB).

At present there is no independent investigator and no independent recommendations when it comes to bus collisions.

The families want to know why there is one policy for trains and another for buses.

Kathleen's family, who intend to set up a fund in her name to help London’s homeless, also believe safety should be part of bus contracts.

They are trying to make London buses safer and have set up a group called Bereaved and Injured United for Safety (BUS).

Katrina says the response from TfL needs to change.

“A lot of time has been spent when we should be grieving," she says. "We shouldn't have to do this.

"Transport for London should after all of these deaths have learned from them. I believe there's a lot of learning to do. We want to make sure things change because this will happen again. More people will die from bus collisions and their response needs to change.”

TfL's Ms Trew said in a statement: “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Kathleen Finnegan and with all of those impacted by loss of life and injury on the transport network. Every death on the transport network is devastating and we have support available for those affected.

“Safety is our utmost priority and we are committed to learning from every collision as part of our Vision Zero goal to eliminate death and serious injury on the network.

"We stand ready to take further action at Victoria bus station if needed to keep people travelling in London safe. This could include additional safety improvements, subject to the outcome of the police investigation and our internal investigations and research.”