New data has confirmed that London is the world’s slowest capital city for travel time, topping the charts for the third year running.
Research by TomTom for its annual Traffic Index looked at towns and cities based on their typical travel time per mile.
Of all the world’s capitals, London emerged with the slowest travel time. Drivers averaged 35 minutes and seven seconds to complete a six-mile journey.
This actually made London the second-slowest city worldwide. Only Barranquilla in Colombia (not the country’s capital) offers drivers a worse commute. Its average travel time was 35 minutes and 20 seconds for a six-mile trip.
London was also listed by TomTom for being one of the 25 worst cities for congestion. And it made the top 20 for time lost by drivers in traffic.
Tube strikes worsen commuter woes
During 2025, Londoners spent an average of 136 hours in traffic, equivalent to more than five full days of going nowhere.
London’s slow travel time put it ahead of locations such as Bengaluru and Kolkata in India, along with Lima in Peru, and Mexico City.
Tube strikes during 2025 contributed to London’s commuting woes, with 10 September identified as the worst single day for traffic. According to TomTom’s analysis, the evening rush hour saw congestion increase by 138 percent at 5pm.
To avoid the impact of Tube strikes, commuters flocked to e-bike rentals. Cycle hire company Lime saw a 75 percent increase in use during rush hour, with more than two million trips logged on that first strike day alone.
Despite commuters demonstrating they can find alternative methods of transport, overall congestion in London increased by one percentage point in 2025.
Belfast and Edinburgh top UK congestion league
Away from the capital, other towns and cities in the United Kingdom faced increasing levels of congestion and slower commuting times.
Belfast emerged as the worst UK city for congestion, with a 58.4 percent jump in journey times during peak hours. Edinburgh was close behind, with its congestion rated at 57.9 percent.
At the other end of the scale, Middlesbrough, Coventry and Leeds posted the lowest levels of road congestion.
Residents of Belfast averaged a loss of 98 hours to rush hour traffic throughout 2025. Edinburgh commuters fared even worse, losing 123 hours.
Edinburgh was also the slowest city for commuting speeds outside of London, with drivers averaging just 11.6mph. Cambridge was the second-slowest, seeing motorists crawl along at 14mph.
“London’s place as the slowest capital city in the Traffic Index really highlights the strain on the city’s roads,” said Andy Marchant, traffic expert at TomTom.
“Many of these streets were built in the Middle Ages and expanded in the Georgian era. But they simply weren’t built for the volume and variety of traffic we see today.
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