Guide to filming or taking photos on the TfL network

Cost to film on TfL locations (from 1 April, 2024)

Unless indicated, all prices are exclusive of VAT and staff costs. The number and type of staff required will depend on the request itself.

Location permit* - please note that numbers of crew and cast will be determined by the choice of station/s

• Crew size 1-10 people: £1,000 an hour - charges do not include staff supervision and rates start at £70 per hour.  
• Crew size 10-20 people: £1,200 an hour - charges do not include staff supervision and rates start at £140 per hour
• Use of an exclusive area from £2,000 per hour

* On occasions, it may be necessary to use an additional member of staff with crew sizes of 1-10.  You will be advised of this at the time of applying.

Discounted, student, charity & low budget requests

• Regrettably, TfL is not in a position to offer filming for free or even discounted.  As a commercial office and a self-funded organisation, offering locations for free or less than cost is not financially viable, regardless of the type of request or the organisation's budget.

Filming on a train in service

• Filming on a train in service is inherently difficult to achieve, due to the increase in passenger journeys, especially travelling in to, and central London itself.   However, we can occasionally facilitate a restricted number of crew and cast (up to 5) with (lightweight) handheld equipment only in Zones 1-2.  This number will still be determined by the location and line on which you wish to shoot.
• Filming from Zone 2 out of London is advisable, or using one of our exclusive areas (budget permitting), means that both parties (customer and production) will have a better experience.

Use of exclusive area, with or without a train

• Rates start at £2,000 per hour for exclusive use of a station and £4,000 per hour with the additional provision of your own train (not including staff costs)

Recces/site visits

• We are happy to arrange any site visits or technical/recces to our exclusive locations but limit these to a maximum of 2.  Hourly charges of £640 p/h will be made for any additional access leading up to your shoot.  Please be aware though, that we have excellent 360⁰ footage on all of our exclusive sites on the EyeRevolution website.

IFS Cloud Cable Car

• From £500 an hour plus VAT per cable car (approximately three return trips an hour)

Zone 4 onwards

• There is an additional flat cost of £700 if filming in Zone 4 and beyond

Evening and weekends - additional costs

• Requests for evenings and weekends do not include staff costs and will be subject to a minimum charge of 8 hours for each member of supervisory staff in attendance

Filming at short notice

• A late notice fee of £700 plus VAT will be charged for applications made within 3 weeks (15 working days) of the proposed filming date, assuming we are able to accommodate the request

Last minute changes to your booking

• A £500 admin fee will be charged for changes to an existing booking requested within five days of filming

TfL Trademarks & Intellectual Property (IP)

We protect our brand and charge for its use. Find out how to apply to use our intellectual property on the Brand licensing page.

How to pay

• Payment for all permits must be made either in advance or on the day and these can be done by either BACS transfer or credit/debit card

Access times to film or photograph

We can only permit filming and photography during off-peak periods:

• Monday to Friday: 10:00-15:30 and 20:00-23:30
• Weekends: generally any time of day (depending on location)

Filming through the night

We don't advise filming or photography when locations are closed at night because this is when essential engineering work is carried out. However, it may be possible if you give advance notice and if there are no planned works at the location you want to use.

Filming at weekends

You can generally film at any time of the day (station/line permitting). This will incur additional staff costs as well as the location fee and will be outlined to you at the application stage.

Notice period

Adequate lead time is expected when applying to film on TfL. We generally require a minimum of 3 weeks (15 working days) notice. Occasionally this can be turned around faster, depending on the nature of the request but may be subject to a late notice fee of £700.

Documentation

Insurance

You must have a current policy of insurance, providing cover for death and personal injury to any person and loss of, or damage to, any property. Your public liability insurance must be for at least £10M GBP and must be in the name of the company who is actually undertaking the filming.

Relevant pages of script, storyboard or brief/concept

You will need to have your script or layout approved by the TfL Film Office before a permit can be granted.

The acceptance or refusal of a permit application is at the sole discretion of the TfL Film Office.  In particular, permits will generally not be considered if a script or layout breaches or contradicts TfL byelaws or marketing campaigns or contains any of our filming restrictions.

The TfL Film Office can refuse a permit application without providing specific reasons, and we may offer advice on how you can bring your script or layout into line with its restrictions, if applicable.

You can send us a synopsis or storyline before submitting your full permit application

Non-Disclosure Agreements

As a rule we do not sign any NDA's or Third Party Location Release Forms.  Our own licence covers all that a production or individual would require to film on our networks and a blank copy is available on request.  We will not consider changes to our Film Licence clauses that are under a value of £100k.

Restrictions

We do not permit flash photography or additional lighting unless you are using an exclusive area. In some cases they may be used - the Film Office and operational staff can advise you on this.

Tripods are only authorised at the discretion of operational staff and are not allowed on station platforms or near escalators for safety reasons.

In accordance with TfL regulations, the following activities are not allowed to be filmed or photographed:

• Vandalism or graffiti
• Assaults on passengers or staff
• Suicides
• Fare evasion or ticket touting
• Use of firearms or weapons
• Drinking or carrying open containers of alcohol
• Misuse of escalators or LU property
• Unlicensed busking
• Begging
• Smoking or the use of illegal drugs
• Behaving in an overtly sexual or indecent manner (including nudity)
• Direct threats (including terrorist) to LU, its staff or passengers
• Anything that may negatively affect the interests of the site owner

We can refuse permit applications which include activities which breach or contradict TfL regulations and marketing campaigns.

Exclusive access areas

We have areas where you can have exclusive access to film: Aldwych (no train available at this location), Bank (at the weekends) with a Waterloo & City Line train and Charing Cross with a Jubilee line train.

Charges for exclusive stations start from £2,000 per hour and £4,000 per hour with the additional provision of a train (plus VAT). Staff costs are not included.

Exclusive areas can include:

• Closed or separated areas from the public
• Your own train
• Use of station platforms
• Working escalators

Filming equipment

Filming equipment, lighting, props, and any other ancillary equipment that is over 1.8 metres long or 25kgs in weight requires special movement arrangements and cannot be undertaken in an operational environment.  We are able to arrange a train (chargeable) to bring heavy equipment in to Charing Cross from Stanmore at specific times outside of our peak period.