TfL Ref: 2488-2425

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 5 November 2024 asking for information about lost property.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.  I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You specifically asked: 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am requesting information regarding items recorded as lost and found on the London Underground. Specifically, I am interested in data for the following tube lines:

•           Central Line

            •           Northern Line

            •           Piccadilly Line

Please provide the following information:

1.         A list of all items recorded in the lost and found logs for each of the above lines over the past 12 months:

2.         For each item, please include:

            •           A brief description of the item

            •           The date it was found

            •           The station or location (if available) where it was found

            •           Whether the item was reclaimed by the owner or remains in storage

If possible, please provide this data in a spreadsheet format (e.g., Excel or CSV).

Please find attached the data requested. Please note that we record the station the property was handed in to, but we do not record the line or service it was found on. For example, Tottenham Court Road services Northern, Central and Elizabeth lines, so for items handed in at that station, we would not know which line the item was found on. The attached spreadsheet includes information for each station on the three lines you have requested.

TfL’s Lost Property Office receives hundreds of thousands of lost items every year, which are individually catalogued and stored safely, with the details used to match against customer enquiries. Where the item has some form of identification, TfL tries to contact the owner to let them know that their property has been found. When an item is reunited with its owner, a small fee is charged to cover the administrative costs of running the Lost Property Office. If, after three months, items such as books and clothing are not collected, they are given to charity or sent to auction to further help cover the costs of running the office.

Note also that we have used data from 2023-24 as these items are no longer available to be claimed by the public. We are not able to go further into 2024 as the items can still be claimed. Information about the items received by the Lost Property Office is routinely published and available on the TfL website here: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/lost-property-office-transparency-data-fy2022-23-24.pdf

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed. 

Yours sincerely

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London