Council urges TfL to scrap proposed cuts to six bus routes

Hackney Council has urged Transport for London to abandon proposed changes to six bus routes serving the borough, three weeks after Labour accused the Green administration of failing to speak out over the cuts.

The council has asked TfL to think again on routes 42, 67, 106, 149, 253 and 254, warning that the cumulative effect of repeated reductions amounts to a significant decline in the quality of the network.

It argues that the proposals would fall hardest on lower-income households, women and global majority communities, and says it is particularly concerned by the planned withdrawal of the 254, which would leave the 106 as the only direct service on parts of the Whitechapel to Hackney route.

In its place, the council wants the 254 converted into the first inner London Superloop route — a faster express service with fewer stops.

‘Vital’

Cllr Jacob Cable, cabinet member for climate, clean air, energy and transport, said: “We are calling on TfL to protect our vital bus network from further cuts. This council is pushing for a reliable, high-quality bus network that supports the borough’s growth and ensures people can get around easily and affordably.

“We have introduced measures across Hackney to support and improve bus services, like our bus gates in Church Street, Stoke Newington, and Amhurst Road, and we maintain the highest coverage of bus lanes in London to help buses move efficiently.

“We encourage residents to join us in telling TfL what they think about the proposed cuts.”

The intervention comes three weeks after Hackney’s Labour opposition marked the first 100 days of mayor Zoë Garbett’s Green administration with a list of complaints that included a failure to speak out over potential bus cuts. A spokesperson for the mayor dismissed the criticisms at the time as an “inaccurate shopping list”.

TfL’s board is chaired by the Labour mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

Letter

Labour’s own group leader in Hackney, Cllr Anntoinette Bramble (London Fields ward), wrote to TfL last month questioning its rationale, following letters to City Hall from the Labour leaders of Haringey and Enfield councils.

“It is not clear how this would reduce duplication, or why,” Cllr Bramble stated in a letter seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The former deputy mayor argued that scrapping the 254 would squeeze space on the remaining buses at peak times, and identified a contradiction in the proposal itself, which states that frequencies would change to absorb the loss of the route while also placing frequency changes outside the scope of the consultation.

She asked TfL to state the new frequencies “definitively” on the record, and to hold a public meeting and further consultation events along the affected routes to “give more people a chance to discuss the consultation proposals directly with TfL officers and make a more informed decision”.

Capacity

Geoff Hobbs, TfL’s director of public transport service planning, said the organisation reviewed its services regularly “to ensure they continue to meet customer demand and make the best use of available resources”, and that the proposals “would better match services to current customer demand while maintaining the capacity needed across the affected corridors”.

TfL has said the changes are designed to “match capacity with passenger demand and to provide a clear and reliable service”, having identified surplus capacity between Edmonton Green and Stamford Hill.

Under the proposals, the 42 would terminate south of Tower Bridge, severing its north-south link between Shoreditch and south London. The 67 between Wood Green and Dalston Junction would be withdrawn and the 149 restructured, providing some replacement links but cutting frequency on parts of the existing route. The 254 would go altogether, with the 106 extended to Aldgate and frequencies increased on the 106 and 253, though not on the 253 night bus.

Precedent

In 2022, after objections led by the London Assembly transport committee, then chaired by the Green assembly member Siân Berry, Mayor Khan released unspent funding and only three of 22 proposed route withdrawals went ahead.

The consultations close on Sunday 20 September. Residents can respond through the individual pages for routes 67 and 149, route 42, and routes 106, 253 and 254 on the TfL website.