TfL has announced that a planned restructure of its bus services will go ahead, following a public consultation.
The 48 (Walthamstow-London Bridge) and RV1 (Covent Garden-Tower Gateway via South Bank) routes will be stopped entirely from June 2019.
In addition, routes 3, 4, 40, 45, 59, 67, 134 and 172 will be shortened, and routes 9/N9, 14, 53, 55, 76, 205/N205 and 341 will be rerouted or changed in some way.
It's not all bad news for bus users though; route 100 has been extended slightly from the Museum of London to St Paul's, while route 343 from New Cross Gate will now continue from Tooley Street via Tower Bridge to Aldgate.
The 26, 35, 46 and 149 all benefit from increased frequencies.
During the public consultation, concerns were raised about the Hopper Fare, from customers whose initial journeys may now take them longer than 60 minutes, rendering the Hopper Fare invalid. In response, TfL has created a list of routes where customers will be refunded the cost of the additional fare to complete their bus journey.
TfL says the changes will allow it to focus on improving outer London services while removing services that currently run under capacity. It's also hoped that the opening of Crossrail — whenever that may be — will take strain off the central London bus network.
TfL is now consulting on a new route connecting new homes in Kidbrooke to North Greenwich. Other planned new routes, to be introduced later this year, include:
- A new express route X140 between Harrow and Heathrow
- Route 301 between Bexleyheath and Woolwich
- Route 278 between Ruislip tube station and Heathrow
The full results of the consultation and details of changes to individual routes can be viewed online.
