Mayor says sorry to family of woman killed by bus

Catherine Finnegan was known by her family as Kathleen

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has apologised to the family of a woman who was killed at London's Victoria bus station.

Kathleen Finnegan, 56, died after being hit by a bus on 29 January but her family has told BBC London they were not contacted by Transport for London (TfL) after her death.

Her niece Katrina Finnegan said the lack of contact was concerning. “The silence was troubling considering the amount of crashes and fatalities that take place."

Mr Khan, who is also TfL chair, told BBC London: "I’ve spoken to the TfL Commissioner Andy Lord and we want to apologise to the family for the treatment they received. It’s really important they received a good response from TfL, particularly after the tragedy they have suffered."

The family also believes Victoria bus station is not safe for commuters and also has concerns about how TfL investigates bus collisions. They are calling for independent reviews of collisions so more deaths can be prevented.

Since 2014, 80 people have died in London in collisions with buses, six of them in bus stations.

Ms Finnegan is not the first woman to die at Victoria bus station. Melissa Burr, 32, died in 2021 after also being hit by a bus. Another woman was seriously injured this summer.

'A lot of pressure'

Katrina Finnegan believes the problems could be systemic: “We want to see how they investigate these incidents and we want to see if the bus contracts are having an indirect impact on safety.

"The drivers are under a lot of pressure. I would be concerned about the working hours of drivers.”

Her aunt's death is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.

Speaking to BBC London, Mr Khan said lessons would be learned: "No-one should be injured going about their business in London.

"It’s really important Victoria bus station is made safer. There’s a review taking place, we will make sure lessons are learned."