TfL’s Corporate Archives preserves a rich collection of records that reflects our organisation’s history and our role in keeping London moving. 🚊
Over the years, our records have given us an insight into how our organisation has changed since the middle of the 19th century, as well as a better understanding of social and economic developments.
International Archives Week
Archives and archivists play an important role in accountability, transparency, democracy, heritage, memory, and society. And this June, between June 9 and 13, we’re celebrating International Archives Week.
As TfL continues to evolve in the digital age, expanding access to our archival content has become more important than ever. Accessibility isn’t just about digitisation—it’s about breaking down barriers, fostering inclusion, and ensuring that archives serve and represent the diverse communities of London and worldwide. This year’s International Archives Week theme, #ArchivesAreAccessible, highlights the need for accessible archives for all individuals, regardless of background, ability, or digital access. It’s not easy, but we’re embracing the challenge and striving to bring our collections to as many people as possible. And why not – they’re great collections! Here, 3 of the team explain what #ArchivesAreAccessible means to them.
Accessible Archives
Giving a voice to the past
“My favourite collection in the Corporate Archives is the collection of World War I letters. During the war, the staff magazine received numerous letters from staff serving overseas. The letters range from heartfelt thank you notes to the organisation by soldiers and their families, to harrowing descriptions of life on the frontline. As well as the staff magazines themselves being available online, the Corporate Archives has also embarked on work to make these remarkable letters more accessible, compiling them as a virtual collection in their own right and creating audio versions to accompany each letter.
I’m particularly fond of a letter titled ‘Walthamstow’s Joy Day’, which details a party hosted by the organisation on 15 July 1916 where families and friends of staff serving overseas enjoyed a day out of dancing, cake, and races. While perhaps not the depiction of war that we’re more used to seeing, it strikes me as a particularly important moment during difficult times. ”
On my third day working at the Corporate Archives, I was very much thrown into the deep end. I was asked to contribute to a social media video, introducing myself, the Archives, and to share fun facts about our collections and the organisation.
But while it felt like a daunting task to begin with, I quickly realised that this was a great introduction to the team. It immediately became clear that each member of the Corporate Archives is genuinely excited to work with the collections and passionate about making them as accessible as possible. Being part of the filming made me confident that I had picked the right team to work with and that I would certainly be very happy in the job.”
Kimberley – Cataloguing Archivist
You can watch the video here 👇
A public transport Games
“Yes, I’m a huge Olympics and Paralympics fan who for 2 months every 4 years becomes a fan of new sportspeople often doing sports I never realised were so enjoyable to watch! And yes, I’m probably biased, but London 2012 was amazing in every way. I was so privileged and proud to be working for TfL in 2012, an organisation that truly was at the heart of delivering a memorable experience for competitors and spectators alike. And the records in our collections that tell the story of how the transport was delivered are an absolute highlight for me.
They tell the story of a transport programme that involved every borough, person, and activity that might be affected and worked with them and communicated with them to ensure their experience was the best it could be. They tell the story of the planning and communications effort that for the first time placed the Olympics and the Paralympics as of equal importance. And they’re very pink….
How do you bring archives to people anywhere around the world and let them immerse themselves in the stories they can tell, when those archives exist mainly in paper format and the organisation needs to prioritise spending on improving the transport network? This was our biggest barrier to accessibility for many years. And then in 2020 a collaboration and partnership with Google Arts and Culture came along. Thanks to their digitisation funding and their online platform, in 2024 the Archives team were able to begin to bring our collections and our stories online for the first time. Now, we have over 90 stories and 2,600 images of collection items to explore. As well as aiding accessibility, the content includes stories on accessibility design, on women in the workforce, and the lighter side of the collections. It was a huge team achievement and one that we’re committed to continue growing.”
Tamara Thornhill – Corporate Archivist
Human histories
“I’ve always had a deep affection for our collection of reminiscences written by horse-bus drivers and their families in 1956. They show the importance of individual memory, experience and retelling in building “corporate memory.” TfL is a company built on people, and these touching recollections paint a picture of the sights, smells and events of a bygone era. During our “Year of the Bus” exhibition in 2014, I found their individual humanity helped me engage with attendees, irrespective of their pre-existing knowledge or initial degree of interest. The detail they contained had clear links to other material on display, including a Horse Book (a list of horses purchased and sold), stable lists, and route maps – and if there’s anything I love it’s making a research connection.
I see archives as potential, and my role is to help others uncover that potential. This makes removing barriers to enable researchers get at the “stuff” something I’m passionate about.
Since 2021 I’ve been working with volunteers from the U3A to help make early minute books of some of our predecessor companies, including the Underground Electric Railways Company and the London General Omnibus Company, accessible remotely. Working from photographs or scans volunteers around the country have been indexing and transcribing these minutes to facilitate direct access. Work completed to date is available and text searchable on our Digital Collections Online.”
Melissa McGreechan – Assistant Archivist
If you’re interested in learning about the history of TfL and our iconic brand, check out our Corporate Archives LinkedIn page.
