City of London Votes to Make Black Cab Access Through Bank Junction Permanent

The City of London Corporation's planning committee has voted to make permanent the trial arrangements allowing licensed black cabs through Bank Junction. Black cabs will continue to travel east-west through the Square Mile junction on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.; private hire vehicles remain excluded from the route during restricted hours. (Photo: a London black cab near Bank station, file photo.)

A year-long trial and nearly 4,000 consultation responses

The arrangement stems from a June 2024 vote by the Corporation to ease restrictions, with a trial running from July 2025 that restored east-west taxi travel between Poultry and Cornhill. The trial was due to expire on January 28, 2027; the committee voted to make it permanent on officers' advice. A public consultation held between January and May 2026 attracted 3,939 responses: 88% backed retaining east-west taxi access, including 68% of respondents who walk; 9% opposed, while 72% of cyclists opposed the change.

Safety figures contested; taxi trade welcomes the decision

The officers' assessment noted that the annualised casualty rate at the junction rose from 5.67 to 9.0 during the trial, but no recorded collision involved a taxi and only two casualties occurred on the east-west corridor; the report found no clear evidence of significant negative impacts. City councillor Keith Bottomley spoke in favour of making the trial permanent at the committee meeting, and Paul Brennan, chairman of the London Taxi Drivers' Association, welcomed the decision. Around £860,000 has been spent reviewing, implementing and monitoring the trial arrangements, according to reports.

The junction was closed after a fatal crash

Bank Junction, where six roads meet in the heart of the City, was once one of London's most dangerous junctions; after a cyclist was killed and more than 100 people injured, the authorities largely closed it to traffic on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. in 2017, allowing only buses, cyclists and pedestrians. The taxi trade campaigned for years to restore access, arguing the closure forced passengers on long detours and added pressure to other central roads, while cycling groups warned that restoring traffic would weaken safety at the junction. The committee's decision makes the trial a permanent traffic order, with private hire vehicles still excluded. (Sources: Taxi-Point; BBC/Local Democracy Reporting Service; Evening Standard.)