Croydon vows to finally sort out its bus shelters – but passengers say it’s all taking too long

By Harrison Galliven, Local Democracy Reporter

Croydon council has put forward plans to work with TfL to provide, install, maintain, and clean new bus shelters across the borough.

This comes following three years in which Croydon was missing shelters due to a failed council contract.

The plans for TfL to replace the missing shelters were revealed in a report published by the council’s scrutiny of streets and environment sub-committee last week.

These plans, subject to approval at cabinet on July 24, would see Croydon brought in line with the rest of London where TfL provides the shelters.

The reason for the missing shelters stems to a contract dispute between Croydon and an offshore company called Valo. In early 2021, the previous Labour administration entered into a deal with the company, which would provide 185 new bus shelters, complete with Wi-Fi and CCTV.

However, it transpired Valo had no prior experience in building shelters and never honoured its commitment. Croydon’s current TfL-operated shelters were unaffected by the deal and remain in place.

According to Councillor Scott Roache, cabinet member for streets and environment: “Council officers have undertaken a range of actions since then to try to get Valo to deliver on the contract, including issuing two default notices earlier this year, but to no avail.”

In Norbury, resident and member of the Love Norbury group, Ann Creighton said the community had been let down by the local authority on this issue.

She said: “There are 14,000 bus shelters in London, 12,500 of which are run by TfL. The other 1,500 are in Camden and Croydon.

“They are the only councils that manage their own bus shelters. I wrote to the former deputy mayor for transport to ask if she had any idea why there was this disparity, and she didn’t know or know who I could ask.”

When asked why Croydon entered into the deal with Valo instead of accepting the standard TfL shelters built by JC Decaux, Ann said: “Their first excuse for not having the shelters built was COVID, then it turned out that the town hall department charged with sorting the new shelters was digital services, not the usual street services.

“Digital services had never put a contract out for bus shelters, but it was thought it would make a lot of money because they would put the electronic advertising in. The council hoped they could turn a profit.”

The council terminated the Valo Smart City UK contract in 2023 and is pursuing damages from them. While the local authority did install four shelters across Croydon in December, large swathes of the borough were still without shelters.

One Norbury bus user, Ibrahim, said: “When it rains, there’s nowhere for us to go. We’ll all get soaking wet just waiting for the bus to come. It’s not right, especially at this time of year.”

While the return of the shelters will be welcomed by many, concerns remain whether they will be delivered before the onset of winter.

Anne Creighton said: “In the council’s announcement, they say that the shelters are expected to be rolled out in this financial year, but they need to guarantee that they will be here before winter. It will be the fourth winter without shelters otherwise.”

A council spokeman said: “Bus stops and shelters are a vital part of the public transport network and the proposal would enable the borough to work with TfL to provide the best possible public transport experience for residents.

“The new agreement would encourage even more people in the borough to use London’s iconic bus network, providing a boost to the economy as well as making the transport network cleaner and more sustainable. If agreed at the cabinet, under the new proposal with TfL, the shelters will be installed without capital or ongoing costs to the council.

“Should the proposal be agreed by cabinet and TfL, it is anticipated that the roll out will commence this financial year.”

Executive Mayor Jason Perry said: “When I became Mayor, I promised I would resolve this issue for our residents and get the much-needed bus shelters back on the streets of Croydon. Unfortunately, it has taken longer than I would have liked owing to contractual consideration.

“Our residents have been massively let down by this failed Valo contract, leaving them without shelters for the past four years. We will continue to pursue all options, including taking legal action against Valo to recover losses.

“This potential partnership with TfL, who have the expertise in this area, will make sure the bus shelters are returned to our streets in a much speedier fashion.”