Sarah Hope helpline for TfL injured into 10th year

A helpline for people injured in or affected by incidents on Transport for London (TfL) services has marked its 10th anniversary.

Sarah Hope set up the support service following a bus crash in 2007 in Richmond, south-west London, which killed her mother Elizabeth Panton, 65, and injured her and her daughter Pollyanna.

More than 600 individuals and families have used the Sarah Hope line over the past decade, according to TfL.

"I just wanted there to be kindness, because for us in the system, there was no kindness," Hope said.

Hope has said previously that the first time she received an apology over the crash that killed her mother was in 2014, seven years on.

She said: "The Sarah Hope Line has stood beside people on the hardest days of their lives...every call reminds us that behind every incident is a real person and a family who deserve to be heard."

Nevgul Bicakci, a Sarah Hope Line user whose daughter was killed in a bus crash in 2024, said: "I think for victims it's a huge thing because basically you are a number…but you just want to be heard.

"You want to feel like someone is there to [say]…don't worry, your daughter is not a number for us and we understand what you are going through. And I felt it with Sarah Hope Line."

The Sarah Hope Line involves a team of nine providing tailored emotional and practical support, such as financial help or trauma counselling.

To mark the anniversary, TfL, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Sarah Hope attended a commemorative event on 16 February.

Khan said: "The Sarah Hope Line has provided vital support to Londoners affected by serious incidents on our transport network over the past decade, and I want to thank Sarah for her strong campaigning which made this service a reality."

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