East London bus route changes mean '6 schools only have hourly service'

A W12 bus to Wanstead
-Credit: (Image: Au Morandarte)


Concern has been raised over six East London schools only having an 'hourly' service after bus changes. The issue was raised with Sadiq Khan by Conservative London Assembly Member Keith Prince.

He said yesterday (Thursday, September 12): "Basically, what we have now is a situation where the W14 and 12 being rerouted. In a nutshell, there are now six schools that only receive a one [per] hour service. I'm sure you'd appreciate that we need to offer our young people more.

"So would you agree that I have another meeting with officers and that you support the idea that we give a better service to our young people?"

READ MORE: London bus service to village is axed leaving elderly 'having to walk 500 metres' to nearest stop

Pictured is Keith Prince AM
Keith Prince AM asked the mayor about East London buses -Credit:London Assembly

Mr Khan said: "I've looked into this issue [...] My understanding is the three - yes to the meeting, by the way, with TfL, because I think it's very important for TfL to hear from elected members. So that's a yes."

Buses 'simpler, more frequent and more comprehensive'

He added: "But my understanding is the three bus routes form part of a simpler, more frequent and more comprehensive network, and the changes add over 150,000 bus kilometres in Outer London, as part of our ambition to increase Outer London bus coverage."

He then reiterated that it was his understanding that there were now 'more frequent buses on the W12'.

It comes after bus services to an East London village were axed as part of changes in East London, which now means elderly locals will 'have to walk 500 metres' to catch alternatives. Alterations to routes 549, W12, W13 and W14 went live on Saturday, September 7.

These included the W12 being rerouted to run between Walthamstow, Coppermill Lane and Woodford Bridge. This means the services will no longer call at Walthamstow Village after previously calling there twice per hour.

But route W12 has been increased in frequency to mitigate the impacts, from every 30 to every 15 minutes, during the daytime between Monday and Saturday, and from every 30 to every 20 minutes during the evenings and all day on Sundays. But it has been claimed that the overhaul is 'not for the betterment of local people, community and passengers'.

A spokesperson for TfL told MyLondon on September 9: "Ensuring that everyone can travel affordably and sustainably is vital and we always take the needs of the local community into account when making changes to our bus network. We have doubled the frequency of the W12 route as part of a wider set of improvements to buses in the area, which will also improve access to Whipps Cross Hospital for tens of thousands of local residents.

"Changes to the routing through Walthamstow Village will enable us to increase the frequency of the route and we will continue to monitor the impact of the changes after they have been put in place."

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