16 October (Part 2) - TfL buses. How poor can they get?
It has been said before that Councillor Steven Hall
chairs the most democratic of Council meetings, inviting members of the
public to sit at his table and contribute to meetings. His ‘fame’ must have
spread widely because yesterday there were four MoPs present instead of it being just me.
The ‘downside’ is that they all made significant contributions so the meeting
was quite a lot longer than usual, but it was all good stuff. No Cabinet Member showed up in support.
Ignore the clock, it has not worked all year.
The first subject was as always buses and as usual how the services are not
very good. Just after 6 p.m. my Bus App said there was no 229
to Bexleyheath due in the next half hour
but then one popped up for six minutes time. I can be at the stop within two
minutes and five minutes later a bus went by without stopping. Then there was
another which later decided it was only going as far as Sidcup station and I
eventually got a seat at Erith.
Councillor Jeremy Fosten (Labour) who lives not far from me and a regular bus user has
similar experiences. Five years ago Abbey Road was served by ten buses an
hour and now it gets five on a good day. TfL thinks this is perfectly adequate.
A MoP told the TfL rep in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t.
But before we get to that what did the TFL lady have to say? There is to be
a
new bus garage in Thamesmead in just a few month’s time and the SL11 and N472
will be the first routes to transfer to it. Routes 51, 178, 244, 286, 291, 385,
469, 601, 624, 625 and 658 will follow.
A Council suggestion that the B15, currently on long term diversion, should
permanently use Wickham Lane and Central Avenue was rejected because journey
times would increase. [I was on it yesterday and the driver left his cab to
announce the diversion and hoped passengers would not get too aggressive with
him for the delay as they had earlier in the day.]
Jeremy said that the published excess waiting times for buses, particularly
the 229, are “not true in my experience”. He was disappointed at the rejection
of his request for an extra service on Abbey Road because there is no demand
while an extra vehicle now serves the route because of over-crowding. Despite
that the 229 still skips stops because it is full.
It is overcrowded at the Sidcup Hospital end too when the school opposite empties.
The 492 has not met its on-time target in a
whole year but the operator had its contract renewed.
TfL acknowledged that the 229 service still doesn’t meet its service requirements in
respect of intervals and “curtailments”.
Jeremy’s MoP guest Rebecca, had plenty to say about the 229 having lived
in Lower Belvedere for 25 years and seen services there decline from twelve buses
an hour to a scheduled five. In practice she sees only three or four. The 469
was withdrawn based on the findings of a five year old survey. “It set alarm
bells ringing with the regulator but to TfL that is just another day at the
office”. To compound their misjudgment TfL annoucced that the further service
reduction in January 2026 was ‘a Service Improvement’.
The 229 suffers persistent failures and intervals are “frequently 20 minutes and
occasionally 40 minutes”. [I have experienced 35 although not this year.]
TfL’s response has been “deeply disappointing”. The MP has been “a glorified
postbox” merely cutting and pasting TfL’s comments. “When services are so poor
people stop using them.” [I generally walk to Abbey Wood station for a greater
choice of routes but Rebecca is a little too far away to enjoy such an alternative.]
The alleged decline in demand is being engineered to be a “self-fulfilling”
prophecy. A 244 extension to Belvedere would relieve the Gayton Road bus parking situation. [I once saw eleven buses queued there.]
Moving to TfL’s Elizabeth line, Councillor Fosten complained that there are no
late night Sunday services from Heathrow to Abbey Wood and passengers have to
get themselves to Paddington from which the only late running route back is the
Hammersmith & City line but after making the four minute hike from the Liz line
platform to H&C he found the last train to be cancelled and there are no Night bus
alternatives. He managed to get himself to Charlton by 2 a.m. and hitch a lift.
There was of course no satisfactory answer to the late night services
question other than use the Journey Planner.
In better news the Abbey Wood escalators which wore out after three years of
use are to be replaced, but God knows when! [As an aside I will say that the Network Rail
project manager for Crossrail told me years ago that the chosen escalators would
not be up to the job.]
Councillor Borella said the stairs at Abbey Wood are a bit of a nightmare, “a
joke” and they should have had escalators. I agree they can be but I remember
at the Crossrail Liaison meetings it being said there was no room, not even for
an Up/Down Division barrier. Stefano was very concerned at the number of people who
use buses without paying. (It is at the driver’s discretion.) TfL said that 96%
of people pay but it wasn’t clear how they knew.
I imagine the TfL lady was glad to get away after only 40 minutes.