London buses to face biggest cut in TfL history

As Transport for London launches its consultations into bus cuts it could see 250 buses removed from service, 16 routes axed and 78 routes amended. 

The news comes as TfL reveals its aim to remove overlaps between routes on major trunk roads in Central London, but there will be some roads left without a bus service. 

Set to last six weeks, the consultation will see the first routes expected to be axed as soon as the end of 2022 with all 16 to be gone by the end of 2023. 

London buses to face biggest cut in TfL history (Canva) (Image: Canva)

So far TfL has already removed 300 buses from service through the use of frequency reductions that do not require public consultation. 

It comes as although buses remain the most popular form of transport in London, demand on many central and inner London bus routes has reduced. 

With ridership on some routes declining since 2014, and by 2019 passenger levels had fallen by nine percent as improvements to rail services and walking and cycling infrastructure provided new alternatives, especially in central and inner London.

Speaking of the changes, Deputy Mayor for Transport, Seb Dance, said: "TfL has looked carefully at the routes affected in order to reduce the impact on passengers as much as possible.

"Routes changed are ones where there are very similar existing services or where passengers would make use of the Mayor's 'Hopper' fare to reach their destination."

The consultation is currently ongoing and will close on July 12 at midnight, and if you'd like to have your say you can go to the Tfl website.