Request ID: FOI-0694-2425 Date published: 24 June 2024
You asked
Hi FoI team,
Please could you release line maps showing corridors and platforms of stations that have been updated since the release of FOI-0368-1516.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-0694-2425
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 29th May 2024 asking for station maps showing tunnels and platforms.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“Please could you release line maps showing corridors and platforms of stations that have been updated since the release of FOI-0368-1516.”
I can confirm that we hold the information you require. However, I am afraid your request is being refused under section 14 of the Freedom of Information Act on the basis that to answer it would represent a disproportionate burden. It has been 9 years since the previous request you have cited, and in that time a large number of works and changes at stations have been made. In order to find all of the material that falls within the scope of your request we would have to liaise with various colleagues to identify any maps that have subsequently been updated; source that material; review it for any content that may be exempt; and then go through the process of redacting that exempt material. This is a time consuming task that would require collaboration among a number of different personnel.
As you can see, this guidance includes the following advice to public authorities:
“Section 14(1) is designed to protect public authorities by allowing you to refuse any requests which have the potential to cause a disproportionate or unjustified level of disruption, irritation or distress.”;
“You should consider using it if, after taking account of all the circumstances, you believe the request is disproportionate or unjustified.”
“The key question to consider is whether the value and purpose of the request justifies the distress, disruption or irritation that would be incurred by complying with it.”
And:
“A single request taken in isolation, for example the first and only request received from an individual, may be vexatious solely on the grounds of burden. That is, where complying with the request would place a grossly oppressive burden on your resources which outweighs any value or serious purpose the request may have.”
It is this burden that leads us to conclude that application of the exemption is justified. There are 272 stations on the London Underground network, and so the task of reviewing them all to see which have had diagrams updated since 2015/16, and the process of then reviewing those diagrams for exempt material, and the task of then carrying out the necessary redactions, is not one that can be done without the expenditure of considerable resource. Providing all the material that will fall within the scope of the request would require the re-allocation and diversion of resource from a number of colleagues. While we understand there may be some personal interest among transport enthusiasts, we do not believe that there is a particular greater public interest in this material which justifies the expenditure of this resource.
Please be assured that our application of the section 14 exemption does not reflect a conclusion that it has been your deliberate intention to place an undue burden on TfL, and we will consider any future request for information on its merits and in accordance with the requirements of the FOI Act. For example, if there is a specific station or stations that you are particularly interested in please let us know which ones they are and we will consider the request accordingly.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
