Road closures in London for Queen's funeral next Monday are revealed

London comes to a standstill for the Queen’s funeral: Roads around the capital will close from 6am on Monday as up to one million people descend on the city to see procession

Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea unveil plans for road closures
Roads around Buckingham Palace and Houses of Parliament are all set to be shut until at least next Tuesday
Significant impact around Kensington and Chelsea in West London where most major roads will be closed
Transport bosses fear ‘New Year’s Eve-type mass exodus’ after funeral cortege leaves on Monday afternoon
The Queen’s funeral: All the latest Royal Family news and coverage

Large parts of Central London will see roads closed for the Queen’s funeral next Monday as up to one million people descend on the capital amid fears over a ‘New Year’s Eve-type mass exodus’ after the cortege leaves.

Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea have now unveiled plans for major road closures, with severe disruption expected to motorists and bus passengers as entire areas are blocked off.

Roads around Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament are all set to be shut until at least the start of next Tuesday – including Whitehall, Birdcage Walk, The Mall, Constitution Hill, Northumberland Avenue, Horse Guards Avenue, Horse Guards Road, Victoria Street, Buckingham Gate, Marlborough Road and Victoria Embankment.

Westminster Bridge will also remain closed. While pedestrians and cyclists are set to be allowed to move through most of the areas, the closures will impact public transport – and the council said bicycles may be removed.

The council also warned pedestrian access to some areas will be affected as it tries to ‘minimise the impact on residents, businesses and local communities’. It added that it was allowing resident permit holders of affected zones A, D and G to park in resident bays in other zones across Westminster until 8.30am next Wednesday.

There will be a significant impact on roads in Kensington and Chelsea in West London – with the local authority there warning that roads from Kensington High Street south will not be accessible on the day of the funeral.

Queen’s Gate and Cromwell Road – as well as most other major roads across the borough and all the bridges – will be closed on Monday from 6am until later in the day when police decide it is safe for them to reopen.

The local authority said there will be ‘significant traffic’ on Monday and told residents they will have ‘restricted access which will make it very difficult to move around the borough and get out of the borough’.

There is expected to be a significant impact on roads in Kensington and Chelsea in West London next Monday – with the local authority there warning that roads from Kensington High Street south will not be accessible on the day of the funeral

The Metropolitan Police released this graphic showing road closures today, but these are set to widen by next Monday

Transport for London has issued this map showing where all the Underground stations are in Central London, in relation to the lying-in-state queue which opened at 5pm yesterday and will run until 6.30am next Monday, the day of the funeral

It added: ‘This will include any vehicles which may be needed to conduct deliveries to homes and businesses. Residents are encouraged not to use their cars on this day.’

The council has also asked all contractors and utility companies to complete or temporarily close down works in the borough before Sunday and for no works to take place on Monday. They may then resume from Tuesday.

List of road closures and transport warnings ahead of the Queen’s funeral

WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL

The following roads around Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament are all set to be shut until at least the start of next Tuesday:

Birdcage Walk
Buckingham Gate
Constitution Hill
Horse Guards Avenue
Horse Guards Road
Marlborough Road
Northumberland Avenue
The Mall
Victoria Embankment
Victoria Street
Westminster Bridge
Whitehall

ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA

The following roads will be closed from 6am until later in the day when police deem it safe for them to reopen:

Cromwell Road
Queen’s Gate
Most other major roads
All the bridges

TRANSPORT FOR LONDON

The following stations are expected to be extremely busy and could be closed or made exit-only:

Charing Cross
Embankment
Green Park
Hyde Park Corner
Lancaster Gate
Marble Arch
St James’s Park
Victoria
Waterloo
Westminster

The Elizabeth line will run a special Sunday service on the Central section between Paddington and Abbey Wood. The East and West sections will run as normal.

Some London bus routes in the Westminster area will be diverted or will stop short of their destination and may be running a reduced service due to road closures.

National Highways will pause planned closures of motorways serving London until after the funeral.

Martin Fellows, who is leading the organisation’s planning for the mourning period, said he wants to make journeys ‘as straightforward as possible’.

He said: ‘We’re expecting the roads to be busy throughout the period. We’ve deployed extra resources from early (Wednesday) morning, but we will do so right the way through until after the funeral.’

Mr Fellows said some of the worst potential congestion hotspots on motorways are the M25 and roads feeding into London such as the M1, M3, M4, and M11.

He advised motorists to ‘allow plenty of time for your journey’ and make sure their vehicle is ‘well prepared’ as ‘it will be very frustrating for people to break down if they’re on their way to pay their respects’.

London Victoria coach station and many central London roads will be closed on Monday.

Most National Express coaches due to depart from or arrive at London Victoria will use Wembley Stadium instead, while rival operator Megabus will switch to Hillingdon.

Heathrow Airport’s flights will be disrupted to avoid aircraft disturbing the funeral.

Details have not been announced, but British Airways was forced to axe 16 short-haul flights on Wednesday during the Queen’s coffin procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.

The AA, which is providing signs to direct mourners and provide information on road closures and diversions, advised people to travel by public transport if possible.

AA president Edmund King said: ‘People planning to travel into Windsor and London should be prepared for delays.

‘With traffic building and car parks beginning to fill up in Windsor, we strongly urge well-wishers to use public transport to help keep traffic moving.’

Meanwhile mourners travelling to London by train for the Queen’s funeral are being urged to stay for lunch to avoid overcrowding.

There are fears that a ‘New Year’s Eve-type mass exodus’ after the funeral cortege leaves Westminster will cause severe congestion at Tube and mainline stations, a rail industry source said.

People visiting the city on Monday to pay their respects to the Queen should ‘take a picnic, spend time in London, raise a glass to Her Majesty and keep reviewing live travel information’, the source added.

A full weekday timetable will operate, with about 250 additional services, including some overnight trains.

Transport for London (TfL) said that most Tube lines will remain open for an additional hour on the night after the funeral, to ensure people can ‘travel around the capital safely’.

The last services on several lines will leave central London at about 1am, compared with midnight normally.

The rail industry is confident there will be enough capacity to cope with the number of passengers, particularly as there will be few commuters due to Monday being a bank holiday.

People are now queuing to see the Queen’s lying-in-state at Westminster Hall until Monday, on the route shown above

There is also an accessible queue route for those wanting to see the Queen’s lying-in-state, which is shown in this map

A screening site has been set up at Hyde Park which can be used by people to watch the Queen’s funeral next Monday

The procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II moves from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall yesterday afternoon

Restrictions on the use of off-peak tickets will not apply. Network Rail said its London stations have seen a 9 per cent increase in usage in recent days compared with the same period last week.

Full procession route for the Queen’s funeral

The Queen’s coffin will travel by ceremonial procession along a detailed route through London and then Windsor before she is laid to rest.

The late monarch’s lying in state will come to an end on Monday morning before her coffin is transported to Westminster Abbey for the State Funeral Service.

It will then travel to Windsor for a Committal Service and private burial in King George VI’s Memorial Chapel in St George’s Chapel.

Here is the full procession route for the Queen’s coffin on Monday, September 19:

– Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey

The Queen’s Coffin will be carried from Westminster Hall shortly after 10.35am to the State Gun Carriage, which will be positioned outside the building’s North Door.

The procession will go from New Palace Yard through Parliament Square, Broad Sanctuary and the Sanctuary before arriving at Westminster Abbey just before 11am.

– Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch

After the State Funeral Service finishes at around midday, the coffin will be placed on the State Gun Carriage outside the Abbey.

At 12.15pm, the procession will set off for Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner.

The route will go from the Abbey via Broad Sanctuary, Parliament Square (south and east sides), Parliament Street, Whitehall, Horse Guards including Horse Guards Arch, Horse Guards Road, The Mall, Queen’s Gardens (south and west sides), Constitution Hill and Apsley Way.

– Wellington Arch to Windsor

At Wellington Arch, the Queen’s coffin will be transferred from the State Gun Carriage to the State Hearse just after 1pm, ahead of the journey to Windsor.

It then will travel from central London to Windsor, on a route that has not been disclosed by the Palace.

When the hearse arrives in Windsor, the procession will begin just after 3pm at Shaw Farm Gate on Albert Road.

– Shaw Farm Gate to St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle

The state hearse will join the procession, which will have been formed up and in position, at Shaw Farm Gate before travelling to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

The procession will follow the route of Albert Road, Long Walk, Cambridge Gate, Cambridge Drive, George IV Gate, Quadrangle (south and west sides), Engine Court, Norman Arch, Chapel Hill, Parade Ground and Horseshoe Cloister Arch.

Just before 4pm, the procession will halt at the bottom of the West Steps of St George’s Chapel in Horseshoe Cloister.

Here, the bearer party will carry the coffin in procession up the steps into the chapel.

The Queen will be interred during a private burial at King George VI Memorial Chapel in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Stationary trains are being used as overnight waiting areas at stations such as King’s Cross and Waterloo.

TfL’s boss said this week that it is facing the ‘biggest event and challenge’ in its history as more than one million people are expected to travel to the centre of the capital to pay their respects to the Queen.

Andy Byford, the organisation’s commissioner, said that planning for the Queen’s lying in state and funeral is more complicated than the 2012 Olympics as it is ‘impossible’ to accurately predict crowd sizes.

TfL is ‘used to dealing with big crowds’ and will take measures such as temporarily restricting access to the busiest Tube stations and directing passengers to other stations to ‘spread the load’, he said.

Mr Byford added that the situation is being managed ‘minute by minute’ from a command centre alongside other agencies and Government departments.

London Underground stations near Buckingham Palace have seen a surge in passenger numbers since the Queen died on Thursday.

TfL said nearly 115,000 more Tube journeys were made to or from eight stations in the centre of London yesterday compared with the same day last week.

A total of 696,468 entries and exits were recorded at Charing Cross, Green Park, Hyde Park Corner, London Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, St James’s Park, Victoria and Westminster stations.

That was up 20 per cent on the total of 581,740 during the previous Wednesday.

Across the Tube network as a whole, TfL recorded 2.99 million journeys on Tuesday, up 8 per cent compared with a week earlier.

TfL figures also show more than 19,000 people started or finished journeys at Hyde Park Corner station on Tuesday, which was double the total on the same day last week.

Green Park has been made an exit only station to prevent overcrowding.

Mr Byford said: ‘The most recent approximation or estimate is that there will be around potentially up to 750,000 people in the queue for lying in state, which is itself a huge number.

‘But then if you take the whole 10-day mourning period and the various events that happen during that – obviously some happened elsewhere – but even the London element of that, we are talking well north of a million people.

‘So this is huge. This is the biggest event and challenge that TfL has faced in its history, and we must rise to that challenge.

‘The Olympics was a huge logistical challenge and operational challenge for TfL, which the company executed in magnificent fashion. But this is different.

‘With something like the Olympics, you know what the events are, where they are, and you know what the numbers will be because it’s ticketed.

‘This is more challenging. It’s over a long period and although there are estimates, it is impossible to say with certainty how many people will turn up to the various elements, so we’ve assumed the highest possible number and we’re aligning our service to match that.’

A special service will run on the Elizabeth Line railway between Paddington and Abbey Wood on Sunday to ease the pressure on other parts of London’s transport network.

That section of the line – which was opened by the Queen in May – is usually closed on Sundays due to testing and software updates.

Mr Byford added: ‘We have recruited literally an army of people from across TfL. We’ve cancelled non-essential meetings. I’ve asked everyone to step up, I’ve asked everyone to volunteer, and the response has been fantastic.

‘We’ve dropped everything in order to pull out all the stops and send Her Majesty off in style with an excellent transport offering.’

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