Month: April 2024

London Marathon: Sunday 21 April

On Sunday 21 April, starting from 08:30, the 2024 London Marathon will commence from three locations on Blackheath in South East London and then cover a distance of 26.2 miles finishing in The Mall, Central London. Approximately 50,000 entrants are expected to compete or take part this year.

Roads traversed from the start points are:

Shooters Hill Road Blue Start
Shooters Hill Road, Charlton Park Lane, Ha Ha Road, Grand Depot Road, John Wilson Street (east side) and Woolwich Church Street.

St John’s Park Green Start
St John’s Park, Langton Way, Old Dover Road, Shooters Hill Road, Charlton Park Lane, Ha Ha Road, Grand Depart Road, John Wilson Street (east side) and Woolwich Church Street.

Charlton Way Red Start
Vanbrugh Park, Charlton Road, The Village, Charlton Park Road, Little Heath, Hill Reach, Artillery Place, Wellington Street, John Wilson Street (west side), Woolwich High St (south side).

All Marathon routes join at:
Woolwich Church Street, then via Woolwich Road, Trafalgar Road, Romney Road, King William Walk, Greenwich Church Street, Creek Road, Evelyn Street, Lower Road, Redriff Road, Surrey Quays Road, Canada Street, Quebec Way, Salter Road, Brunel Road, Jamaica Road, Tooley Street, Tower Bridge Road, Tower Bridge, Tower Bridge Approach, East Smithfield, The Highway, Narrow Street, Limehouse Causeway, Westferry Road, Eastferry Road, Limeharbour, Marsh Wall, Heron Quay roundabout, Heron Quay, South Colonnade, Cabot Place, North Colonnade, Churchill Place, Cartier Circus, Trafalgar Way, Cotton Street, Poplar High Street, Ming Street, West India Dock Road, Commercial Road, Butcher Row, The Highway, East Smithfield, Tower Hill, Byward Street, Lower Thames Street, Upper Thames Street, Blackfriars Under Pass, Victoria Embankment, Bridge Street, Parliament Square (north side), Great George Street, Birdcage Walk, Spur Road, Queen’s Gardens to The Mall.

Road closure times, (roads will be reopened once the participants have cleared, cleansing, removal of infrastructure completed, and it is deemed safe to do so).

Charlton Way, Shooters Hill Road from 04:00
City of London and Westminster from 06:30
Greenwich & Woolwich from 07:00
Southwark (including Tower Bridge) from 08:00
Tower Hamlets from 08:00

Vehicles MUST be clear of the event footprint and all road closures as stated.

PSVAR: Next Levels of Compliance – 1 August 2024

There are just over 3 months to go before the next step in the minimum levels of compliance required for those who have a ‘Special Authorisation’ for vehicles used on Home to School (HTS) and Rail Replacement (RR) services.

From 1 August 2024, the following levels of compliance will be required:

  • Band A – For fleet sizes between 1 and 5 vehicles – At least 50% of the fleet partially compliant;
  • Band B – For fleet sizes between 6 and 9 vehicles – At least one fully compliant vehicle and at least 50% of the rest of the fleet partially compliant;
  • Band C – For fleet sizes between 10 and 29 vehicles – At least 15% of the fleet fully compliant and at least 50% of the rest of the fleet partially compliant;
  • Band D – For fleet sizes of 30 vehicles or more – At least 25% of the fleet fully compliant and at least 50% of the rest of the fleet partially compliant;

The ‘fleet’ is just those vehicles that are used on HTS and RR duties; vehicles that are never used on this work (or are used on HTS services that do not carry any paying passengers) can be excluded from the fleet totals.

Partial compliance requires vehicles to comply with parts of PSVAR schedule 3 as follows:

  • paragraph 2 (floors and gangways)
  • paragraph 3 (seats)
  • paragraph 4 (steps, excluding sub-paragraphs 1d, 1e, 1f, and 5)
  • paragraph 5 (handrails)

i.e.: it does NOT include any requirement for a wheelchair lift or destination equipment.

If, since you applied for your exemption from PSVAR, your fleet used to provide HTS or RR services has changed (either increased or decreased) which has moved you into a different ‘band’, you must notify the Department for Transport (DfT) at [email protected].

These are important changes; for coach operators who are Band B or C it requires you to have fully compliant PSVAR coaches for the first time, and for Band D there is a significant uplift in the number of coaches that need to be fully compliant. If you don’t already have plans to meet these requirements by 1 August, we suggest you make this a priority in the immediate future, as the demand for fully compliant PSVAR vehicles is likely to be high over the next few months.