How does TfL inform the public of bus diversions?

Diversions is a wide topic – varying from almost immediate emergency short term diversions (e.g. in response a gas leak), through to planned long-term diversions such as those associated with HS2 construction.

Where Transport for London (TfL) has sufficient notice, it posts publicity in bus stops to inform customers of changes to bus routes. This contains information about the start and expected end dates of the diversion, as well as impacted routes. All of this is based on information provided to TfL by the works promoter.

If the diversions are long-term or high impact, targeted notifications are also sent to customers via email, and timetables in TfL’s Journey Planner are actively realigned to reflect the new routeing. Short term diversions which affect most customers on affected routes are often included in TfL’s weekly closures customer emails. For emergency diversions, TfL posts information at the most immediately impacted stops wherever possible. However, by their nature, it is more difficult to communicate these changes.

Real-time disruption information is added to the Status Updates pages on the TfL website, alongside warning messages in Journey Planner.