TfL faces charges after woman's death at bus station

Transport for London (TfL) is to be prosecuted over alleged safety failures at Walthamstow bus station, where a woman was struck by a bus and died.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) alleges that between 1 January 2004 and 15 December 2023, TfL failed to ensure traffic routes at the northern crossing of the station in north-east London were suitable for the people and vehicles using them.

Grace Mecaley, a 74-year-old retired nurse, died after being hit by a route 212 bus at the station in December 2023. TfL has been approached for comment.

The first hearing is due at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 25 September.

The charge is brought under regulations governing the safety of pedestrians and traffic routes in the workplace.

TfL was served with a notification of contravention by the HSE in March 2024, after inspectors found the transport authority had not provided safe crossings for pedestrians and vehicles at the station.

The bus station, which sits opposite Walthamstow Central Underground and Overground station, is used by about 19 routes.

It closed for six weeks in November and December 2024 while new pedestrian crossings were installed on its northern and western sides.

A second contravention notice followed in March 2025, this time over the behaviour of bus drivers at the site.

TfL said then it had reminded all its bus operators of their responsibilities towards passengers and pedestrians.

Grace Mecaley had been an executive member of the Waltham Forest Race Equality Council since the 1980s.

Lorna Murphy, TfL's director of buses, said last year that every death on the transport network was devastating and that the organisation was determined to end the loss of life and injury it causes.

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