Nickie Aiken, Member of Parliament for the Cities of London and Westminster, welcomes the Mayor of London’s common sense decision to cancel almost all of his proposed cuts to bus routes across the Cities of London and Westminster.
Following Nickie’s local campaign and working with neighbouring MPs Greg Hands, Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham, and Felicity Buchan, Member of Parliament for Kensington, as well as London Assembly Member for West Central, Tony Devenish, more than 10,000 people had their say, signed their petitions and voiced their opposition to the Mayor’s bus cuts.
The Mayor will now no longer push ahead with cuts to London’s oldest continuous bus route, bus route 24. Nickie warmly welcomes that the route will continue to serve neighbourhoods between Pimlico and Hampstead Heath.
Route 14, another pivotal route to Chelsea and Westminster, Royal Brompton, and Royal Marsden hospitals, has been saved, albeit having had its timetable previously cut.
Route 4, which connects the City of London to Whittington Hospital is another essential route that no longer faces the Mayor’s axe because of your immense support.
Routes across the Cities of London and Westminster which will now be unchanged include 4, 12, 14, 15, 24, 43, 47, 74, 78, 88, 98, 113, 189, 205, 242, 343, N74, N98, N133, and N242.
Despite Sadiq Khan's u-turn, the Mayor cut the 11. And our hospital bus, the 211 remains under threat.
Nickie secured a reprieve for the 211, our hospital bus, but the Mayor of London plans to push ahead and alter route 211. The route would start at Battersea Power Station, cutting off local people living in Pimlico, Victoria and St James’s from the pivotal hospital bus route which links them to Chelsea and Westminster, Royal Brompton, Royal Marsden, St Thomas’ and Charing Cross hospitals.
Route 11, which served the Cities of London and Westminster since 1906, was rerouted, cutting off the City of London and most of Westminster. The route now terminates at Waterloo.
Jointly, Greg and Nickie's petitions to save the 11 and 211 buses received over 15,000 signatures opposing his plan. The Mayor's own consultation showed 85% of respondents opposed his plan. But the Mayor of London ignored local people and pushed ahead with his appalling plan.
Bus route 507, which ran between Victoria Station and Waterloo Station has also been scrapped entirely.
Bus routes across the Cities of London and Westminster which changed because of the Mayor of London’s decision include 3, 6, 11, 16, 23, 133, 211, C10, N11, N16, and N205.
The Mayor claims this is about money. It isn’t. Transport for London has already received support throughout the pandemic totalling over £6 billion, the largest single recipient of pandemic support across the transport sector. The Government also confirmed in the Summer longer-term funding support for TfL totalling over £1.1 billion, as well as unlocking over £3.6 billion of critical infrastructure investment.
