TfL rack up £30,000 in parking fines and road charges in past 12 months

Transport for London staff have racked up over £30,000 in parking fines and road charges in the last year alone, the Local Democracy Reporting Service and MyLondon can reveal.

By Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter, and Luke Donnelly, MyLondon

Transport for London staff have racked up over £30,000 in parking fines and road charges in the last year alone, the Local Democracy Reporting Service and MyLondon can reveal. The highest amount being paid to Islington Council.

This includes more than £16,000 for 143 parking fines directly paid to 20 different local authorities across the capital, and £9,460 for PCNs (Penalty Charge Notices) to the network itself.

£6,631 was collected by private firms such as PayMyParking and Euro Car Parks, with all transactions either listed under TfL’s Chief Operating Officer or Chief Customer & Strategy Officer’s department.

The information was disclosed after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the network asking for all transactions under £250 made by staff using company cards between April 1 2025 and March 31 2026.

As a local government body operating under the Greater London Authority (GLA), TfL routinely publishes details for all external payments and individual corporate expenditure transactions over £250 but lower level spending is not routinely made public.

TfL officials said that the fines often originate from staffers having to park to the “closest access point” to attend an incident and then paying the fine using a TfL credit card. They said staff members will reimburse TfL for the fine “when appropriate”.

The figures emerged just months after the network hiked Tube fares by an average of 5.8 per cent. In November, bus and tram fares will also increase by 10p to £1.85 for a single journey.

The revelations have prompted scathing remarks from senior Conservative politicians, who accused TfL of “squandering” taxpayer cash.

Shadow Minister for London and former Assembly Member Gareth Bacon told the LDRS: “As has been the case so often in the past, under Sadiq Khan’s atrocious leadership TfL has wasted no opportunity to fleece Londoners – especially drivers – whilst pleading poverty.

“But yet again, evidence is uncovered of TfL squandering Londoners’ money.

“This is simply not good enough. I would say the Mayor should get a grip, but on the basis that this has been going on for the whole of his decade in office it’s obvious I would be wasting my breath.”

Shadow Cabinet Minister Julia Lopez, who is also a London MP, added: “TfL is merciless when it comes to fining London’s drivers for making mistakes – always at the ready to catch people out over the smallest infringement.

“The costs for families and traders can be crippling. This slush fund for paying fines looks like TfL granting itself leniency unavailable to anyone else.”

Tory London Assembly Neil Garratt said that TfL “has some serious explaining to do”.

He added: “£30,000 on parking fines, all paid for with one man’s credit card, is an appalling statistic for TfL – representing a wasteful spend of nearly £600 a week. Whilst commuters suffer inflation-busting fare rises, making London the most expensive urban transport network in the world, the news of this spending is appalling.

“The public will rightly be asking why an organisation this is so tight for cash feels it can flex the company card in this way.”

Jonathan Eida, public affairs manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “TfL cannot lecture passengers about paying their way while its own spending records raise serious questions about basic financial discipline.

“Transport bosses must explain every odd transaction, recover any inappropriate costs and prove they are treating farepayer and taxpayer money with respect.”

A TfL spokesperson told the LDRS: “For urgent operational reasons, vehicles sometimes have to be parked at the closest access point to the incident location. In order to ensure any fines are paid quickly, when the fine relates to an operational issue, staff will sometimes pay using a TfL credit card.

“Where appropriate, the fine will then be reimbursed by the staff member to TfL. In addition, sometimes credit cards are used to allow testing of TfL’s payment platforms before updates (such as Oyster top ups, road user charges, Travelcard purchases).

“This process is regularly reviewed to make sure the use of TfL credit cards is fully in line with our wider policies and procedures. This includes checking that any payments made for operational reasons, such as parking fines, are properly authorised, recorded and reimbursed.”

It is understood that there are 80 credit cards currently assigned to staff members, but only 60 have been active in recent months.

Other miscellaneous payments discovered by the LDRS include several payments of £2 to the New York Times newspaper. TfL say this “was to access an article referencing TfL which was behind a paywall”.

There was also a £237.50 payment to the Greggs Bakery in August 2025, and £209.50 spent at GAIL’s Bakery in January this year. Officials said that this was to provide food and drink for staff working overtime or dealing with “operational issues”, as well as for volunteers at events.

They said a £191 payment to wine sellers Enotria was a “one-off payment for non-alcoholic wine required for a fundraising event being hosted by the London Transport Museum”.

Parking Fines