Transport for London (TfL) has released designs for a new permanent memorial to London's transport workers who have died from coronavirus.
The new memorial will be created on a pedestrian plaza on Braham Street in Aldgate, which will contain a plaque paying tribute to London's transport workers as well as benches to allow quiet reflection and remembrance.
A cherry blossom tree will be planted, echoing the new public garden of blossom trees created in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to commemorate all Londoners who lost their lives to coronavirus.
Tfl said that 98 transport workers who helped to keep London moving during the pandemic died from coronavirus but that it is also aware of a number of taxi and private hire drivers who died.
It said the permanent memorial 'will pay tribute to the critical role they played in London's fight against this global pandemic’.
Mayor Sadiq Khan, said: 'I am devastated that 98 London transport workers have died from COVID, and each and every one of them will always be in my thoughts. As the son of a bus driver, this is deeply personal to me, and I can't help but think how it could have been my dad or his colleagues or friends.
'I hope that the new permanent memorial in the middle of our city will be a place where those that have lost loved ones will find solace, and be a reminder of the heroic key workers who have made it possible for us to come through the pandemic by keeping our city moving.'
Last week Transport Commissioner Andy Byford wrote to the families of those who worked on TfL services and had died of coronavirus to offer his personal condolences and to share the plans for the memorial.
TfL said that following feedback from the families, it aims to submit a planning application to Tower Hamlets Council for the memorial by early 2022 and formally unveil it by summer 2022.
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