Objections to bus cuts

• WE are deeply concerned at the proposed cuts to bus services, which are being forced on us as a result of government-set terms.

Particularly high on our list of concerns is the 24. From Fitzrovia to Hampstead, residents are worried about the loss of this service.

While Transport for London largely proposes to reroute other buses, to retain connections between places, this does not necessarily mean overall capacity will be the same.

In the case of the 24, the service is already running at 99 per cent of its pre-pandemic levels. The 205 is at 107 per cent of its January 2020 levels, yet both face the chop or rerouting, and obliging people to interchange more in order to reach important destinations, such as the health facilities that sit along both routes.

The proposed loss of the 31 and the N31 is also a concern. Although a realigned 113 and 189 would replace parts of this route, it still represents a loss of service overall in the west of Camden, and there are potential impacts on wait times and overcrowding, as well as concerns about the loss of a night service.

And somewhat overlooked in some of the discussion so far has been the threat to the 521, which TfL proposes be partly replaced with the 59, which in future would not travel to Euston. The upshot of this is to lose a connection between Holborn and Euston, a journey that cannot be made easily by tube without changing.

This is yet another blow to connections to the Euston area transport following TfL’s decision to rip out safe-cycling space there and its resistance to making it easier to cross Euston Road for pedestrians.

Similar issues remain with the proposed loss of the 4, the 14, and the 16, with knock-on impacts throughout the network. The combination of the changes to the 189 and the cancellation to the 16 and N16 leaves the north west of Fortune Green with no direct link into central London.

We have set out our objections on these and more in much greater detail in our formal submissions to TfL.

ANNE CLARKE AM
Labour, Barnet & Camden

CLLR ADAM HARRISON
Cabinet Member for a Sustainable Camden