Commercial Partnerships At TfL: A Balancing Act

Commercial income is an essential part of TfL’s wider strategy to grow and diversify revenue, allowing us to reinvest back into the network to protect and improve our services. This is why we work with commercial partners.

Our approach to our partnerships and activations are guided by three equally important qualities:

Revenue generation – aiming to infuse colour and fun into the network while generating essential income
Customer clarity – carrying out essential planning to ensure no customer is ever confused or misdirected
Accessibility – embedded at every stage of planning and delivery, so no customer is disadvantaged

Together, these priorities shape every decision we make, guiding how each partnership and activation is delivered across the network.

The variety of our partners

Our partnerships range from long-term commercial agreements to short-term activations, each delivering commercial value and working effectively within the live transport environment.

This includes long-term sponsorships, such as Santander Cycles and our Chase payment partnership.

Alongside our shorter, creative activationsincluding: Playstation’s Oxford Circus takeover, branded moquette seats on the Victoria line, Mastercard’s Fare Free Mondays, and station renames (e.g., Gareth Southgate with Visa for the 2018 World Cup, PICARDilly Circus with Amazon Prime to celebrate the launch of Star Trek: Picard, Green Park becoming Green Planet for BBC’s launch of it’s new series, and Burberry Street with Burberry for London Fashion Week).

Regardless of scale or duration, every partnership is planned and delivered to meet the same commercial, customer, and accessible standards.

Customer clarity comes first

When a station is themed or visually enhanced by using roundels, signage or temporary graphics, functional elements remain unchanged. Here’s what remains consistent, no matter the activation:

Services & operations:

Train services: routes, running times and operations stay the same

Information & communication:

Tannoy announcements: unchanged and using official station names
Digital tools: TfL Go, Journey Planner and the website stay accurate
In-car information: maps, line diagrams and screens remain standard

People & wayfinding:

Station staff: fully briefed and ready to help
Official wayfinding: standard TfL signage remains; branding is always additional

These considerations ensure that all customers, including frequent travellers, visitors and those with accessibility needs can navigate with confidence.

You can trust the network, even when it looks different.

Embedding and evolving accessibility in everything we do

Even small visual changes can impact customers differently, so this is why accessibility considerations are built into every stage of our work.

Following the Burberry activation at Bond Street, which created some unintentional customer confusion, we reviewed and improved our approach.

Since then, we have:

Developed a Master Customer Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA)

Created in consultation with:

Independent Disability Advisory Group (IDAG)
Disability Campaigners
Our D&I team

This EQIA sets out principles we follow for every activation to minimise unintended impact.

Completed station-specific EQIAs for each partnership

These consider:

Station layout/ customer flow
Expected customer groups
Sensory considerations
Nature of the brand activity
Potential risk areas
Clear mitigation plans

Become committed to continuous improvement

Every activation is a first: a new brand, a new idea, a new location. We review feedback after each activation and apply learnings to the next.

Accessibility is never an afterthought. Every activation is designed with everyone in mind, putting the customer first, every time.

Supporting London, considering every customer

Every partnership we deliver is shaped by our four commitments:

Supporting London by generating essential income to improve services
Protecting accessibility and inclusivity at every step
Maintaining clarity, safety and a good experience for all customers
Delivering value for our commercial partners

By working closely with accessibility experts, designers and operational teams, we ensure each activation is thoughtfully planned, inclusive and responsibly delivered.

As we explore new creative opportunities across the network, our focus remains the same. We strive to form the perfect balance between generating vital revenue, while ensuring every customer can move confidently, safely and independently around London.