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Key Information

Job title: Principal Transport Planner
Salary: £60,000 - £70,000
Band: 3
Contract type: Permanent
Reference: 3277
Location: Palestra / Hybrid*

Application closing date: Friday 6th February 2026 at 23:59pm

*Hybrid working within this role enables a balance of 50 per cent of time split between the office and home over a 4-week period. Hybrid working arrangements can evolve subject to business requirements.   

Role Overview

The Public Transport Service Planning department drives the development of London's public transport services. We plan the rail, bus and London Underground network, to meet current and future customer and business needs, and deliver the objectives of the Mayor's Transport Strategy (MTS).

We have vacancies for Principal Transport Planners in two teams within Public Transport Service Planning: the Train Service Planning team and the London Underground Development team. These are challenging and influential roles in which you will use your analytical, problem solving and communication skills to draw conclusions from demand, cost and performance data and lead the development of London Underground services.

We are responsible for:

• Developing achievable proposals for short, medium and long term service changes, upgrades and renewals to the network, supported by strong business cases, and with stakeholder support.  We seek to maximise the benefits to customers from the capability of the railway within operational and affordability constraints.
• Understanding travel demand and journey time by producing and analysing demand and performance datasets that form the basis for service planning at TfL - where, when, how and why are passengers travelling, how long do their journeys take, and how is this affected by changes to the network’s infrastructure and performance.
• Researching and refreshing our planning assumptions and reflecting our findings in analyses and business cases; deploying data science, programming and mapping techniques to draw conclusions from data sources such as ticketing and train performance data.

Application Process

Please apply using your CV and a covering letter of no more than 2 pages, showing how you meet the following key skills, knowledge and experience criteria:

• Expert in Transport Planning principles and their application
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills, with the ability to influence others
• Experience of managing the work of others, providing leadership and development
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to use advanced analytical tools
• Excellent data collection skills with the ability to research and interpret the outputs

Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to represent the city we serve, which will help us become a more innovative and efficient organisation. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria. 
 

Benefits  
In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow.  Rewards vary according to the level of role but mostly include the below:
 
Final salary pension scheme 
Free travel for you on the TfL network 
Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home or 75% reimbursement on a 28-day flexi ticket
30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays 
TfL is committed to work-life balance, operating a hybrid working approach where business and role requirements allow
Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional) 
Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme
Retail, health, leisure and travel offers 
Discounted Eurostar travel
 
Hybrid working within this role enables a balance of 50 per cent of time split between the office and home over a 4 week period. Hybrid working arrangements can evolve subject to business requirements. 

We will make every effort to give you as much notice as possible, however some interviews/assessments could be organised at short notice.