Request ID: FOI-0450-2425 Date published: 05 June 2024
You asked
Please provide a copy of any safety assessment documentation that looked at the possibility of installing a Harry Kane statue at Chingford station, on the platform.
Please detail any negotiation or conversation about installation of said statue including timeline of events and when final decision was made and by whom.
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-0450-2425
Thank you for your request received on 8 May 2024 asking for information about the possibility of installing the Harry Kane statue at Chingford station.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy.
Discussions with the Operations Team of Arriva Rail London – who operate the London Overground on behalf of Transport for London - around the proposal to locate the statue on the platform behind the buffer stops were high level and started in January of this year. After initial feedback the proposal was not progressed. A detailed assessment of the risks of locating the statue on the platform was not undertaken, therefore we do not hold this information.
Initial concerns that were fed back related to the risk that having the statue in proximity to the buffer stops could cause a distraction to train drivers as they approach the terminal (dead-end) platforms at Chingford. The main distraction issue was not concerned with the statue, but the actions of persons around it, including posing for photographs on/next to it, hanging items on it such as scarfs, etc.
Had the discussions progressed further, this would have led to the commissioning of a formal safety validation workstream, including hazard identifications and a risk assessment, but a further proposal was then made to relocate the statue off station premises at Chingford, negating the requirement for commissioning of a safety validation.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal. Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
