Request ID: FOI-2769-2324 Date published: 01 December 2023
You asked
Dear Madam/ Sir,
I hope this email finds you well.
I write this email under the Freedom of Information Act. I wish to request information on unclaimed items and lost property on the London Underground.
Specifically, I require information from the calendar year of 2022 (January 1 to December 31) on:
1. The 10 London Underground stations with the highest percentage of unclaimed lost property and;
2. The 10 London Underground stations with the lowest percentage of unclaimed lost property.
i.e. unclaimed lost property in X station / total lost property in X station.
Percentage, here, denotes all unclaimed items as a percentage of all lost property.
For this request, alongside the percentage of unclaimed items, I also require the recorded number of all items of lost properly and the number of these items that remained unclaimed, at the aforementioned stations.
I would prefer to receive this information in an Excel spreadsheet.
We answered
TfL Ref: 2769-2324
Thank you for your clarified request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 28 November 2023 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 the information you require. You asked: I write this email under the Freedom of Information Act. I wish to request information on unclaimed items and lost property on the London Underground.
Specifically, I require information from the calendar year of 2022 (January 1 to December 31) on:
The 10 London Underground stations with the highest percentage of unclaimed lost property and;
The 10 London Underground stations with the lowest percentage of unclaimed lost property.
i.e. unclaimed lost property in X station / total lost property in X station.
Percentage, here, denotes all unclaimed items as a percentage of all lost property.
For this request, alongside the percentage of unclaimed items, I also require the recorded number of all items of lost properly and the number of these items that remained unclaimed, at the aforementioned stations.
Please find the data you requested attached – the data shows the unclaimed items at the individual stations and these percentages look at the unclaimed items from the stations themselves and is not a comparison with the total found items for London Underground.
Please note that the data provided for items found in 2022 is correct as of 23/11/23. The top and bottom 10 are in the table and ranked by the percentage criteria as requested.
TfL encourages customers to first enquire about any lost property at the original location where the item was lost. If the item is still missing, customers need to complete an enquiry form on the TfL website at https://notlostenquiry.com/tfl/. Items are securely held by the Lost Property Office for three months. During this time, attempts are made to reunite customers with their belongings by using information found inside the property, or by matching items to descriptions provided by customers. Following the three-month duration, any unclaimed items will have personal data removed and securely destroyed, before being either donated to charity, recycled or auctioned. Any revenue generated from unclaimed items contributes towards the cost of running the Lost Property Office.
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
