Proposed changes to bus routes 30 and 205

Proposals

At present:

• Route 30 runs between Marble Arch and Hackney Wick, Chapman Road. Double-deck buses are used. It is served by a bus every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 12 minutes Sundays and evenings
• Route 205 runs between Bow Church and Paddington. Double-deck buses are used. It is served by a bus every 8 to 12 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes and evenings and every 9 to 13 minutes Saturdays daytimes and evenings, Sundays every 11 to 13 minutes daytimes and evenings
• Route 27 runs between Hammersmith Grove and Chalk Farm. Double-deck buses are used. It is served by on average a bus every 8 to 11 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes and 9-12 minutes Monday to Thursday evenings, with every 10 to 12 minutes Friday evenings, Saturdays is a bus every 8 to 12 minutes daytime and evening, with Sundays having a bus every 10 to 13 minutes daytime and evening

The proposals include changes to these local bus routes:

• Withdraw route 30 between Marble Arch and Euston Bus Station
• Withdraw route 205 between Paddington and Baker Street station and extend to Marble Arch via Baker Street
• Additional journeys for route 27

To make sure the frequency of buses in service between Paddington and Baker Street is sufficient to meet demand, we think extra journeys will be required on route 27 in the early mornings and/or late evenings to compensate for the journeys provided by the route 205 currently between Paddington and Hampstead Road as follows:

• Monday to Fridays: Two extra early AM journeys towards Chalk Farm
• Monday to Fridays: Three extra late PM journeys towards Hammersmith
• Saturdays: Two extra early AM journeys towards Hammersmith
• Saturdays: Four extra late PM journeys towards Hammersmith
• Sundays: Three extra late PM journeys towards Hammersmith

All three routes currently operate at a high frequency of five or more buses per hour, and are routes where passengers tend not to look at the timetable before arriving at the stop.

We are proposing that route 30 would no longer run between Euston Bus Station and Marble Arch.

Route 205 would be withdrawn between Baker Street and Paddington.

Route 27 that covers the Paddington to Baker Street section of the route 205 would get extra early morning and late evening journeys to compensate for the loss of the route 205 journeys that serve this section at present.

Journey planning

The Paddington - Baker Street - Euston Bus Station bus corridor is well served by several other bus routes. As an example, bus route 27 operates between Camden and Hammersmith via Warren Street, Great Portland Street, Baker Street and Paddington.

The geographic map includes bus route 18 for information only to show the common sections it has with the 205 and 30 buses along the A501 between Edgware Road and Euston Bus Station. No changes to bus route 18 are proposed.

Map 1 overall area map. This shows route 18 for information only.

Click on map to view larger version

Map 2 showing in more detail the Marble Arch/Paddington, Baker Street and Euston corridor. Bus route 18 shown for information only.

Click on map to view larger version

Linear maps for route 30 and route 205 showing the current and proposed routes are also available.

Why?

London’s bus network is our most affordable, accessible, and available form of public transport and offers the main sustainable alternative to cars for those journeys that cannot easily be walked or cycled. It is also London’s most flexible mode of public transport.

We continuously review and adapt the bus network to reflect changing customer needs. This includes proposing changes to existing bus routes, so services operate in areas where our customers need them most.

Read more about how we are increasing the number of bus journeys by making bus travel better, faster and greener in our Bus action plan.

Why we propose to make these changes to routes 30 and 205

• Although passenger numbers have increased on routes 30 and 205 since 2021, they are still down on numbers before the pandemic
• More buses are running on routes 30 and 205 than are needed by customers
• The number of passengers using the 30 has reduced by approximately 25% since before the pandemic, across a typical week
• The number of passengers using the 205 has reduced by approximately 15% across a typical week.
• When looking where to save money on the bus network we look at locations and routes where at present, we run excess capacity and can look to match the service with the demand for that service
• Operating a more efficient bus service helps us make financial savings that can be reinvested in other parts of the London bus network, including in areas where there is not enough bus capacity to meet customer needs
• This is the case for bus services along the ‘inner ring road’ corridor (A501) and by making these changes this allows us scope and opportunity to continue to grow outer London bus mileage
• As part of our continual review of the London bus network there would be ongoing monitoring of bus services in central London to ensure there is enough space on buses for our customer and that service levels are maintained

How it impacts you

We have carried out an Equality Impact Assessment on this proposal and it has highlighted that some passengers are going to be negatively impacted by this proposal.

The impacted passengers are those that would need to change buses to start or complete journeys.

Route 30 will no longer run from Euston to Marble Arch. It will run from Hackney Wick.

To reach destinations west of Euston that the 30 serves at present, such as Great Portland Street, Baker Street and Marble Arch, you will need to change buses. Same stop interchange from the 30 to the 205 will be possible from Angel through to Euston.

Route 205 will no longer run on the section of its current route between Baker Street station and Paddington. It will newly serve Marble Arch via Baker Street.

To access destinations west of Baker Street station, such as Marylebone, Edgware Road and St Mary’s hospital, Paddington that are served by the 205 at present, under these proposals you would need to change from the 205 to the 27. Same stop interchange would be available between Warren Street and Baker Street.

Route 18 will remain unaltered and will maintain direct journeys between Edgware Road/Paddington area and Euston.

Route 27 has additional journeys proposed. To provide a good frequency of service and avoid creating gaps in service for buses between Paddington and Baker Street extra journeys will be provided on route 27 in the early mornings and/or late evenings. The frequency of the 27 remains unchanged at all other times.

With the Mayor’s Hopper fare, adult rate pay as you go fares on buses and trams gives you unlimited journeys for £1.75, made within one hour of touching in. Hopper fare also applies to discounted rate travel.

Accessing St Mary’s Hospital

Bus route 205 directly serves St Mary's Hospital in Paddington.

If route 205 was changed as planned, then passengers currently using this route for access to St Mary’s hospital would need to use route 27 or routes 7 or 23 or 36, which will continue to serve St Mary’s Hospital. Night routes N7, N27 and N205 would also continue to serve the hospital as they do now.

Bus routes 7, 23, 36 N7, N27 and N205 would continue to serve the hospital as they do now.

Impact of needing to change bus to complete your bus journey

The main impact we have identified as a result of these proposals would be the need for some passengers to change bus to complete their journey.

We want to hear how you think the proposals may impact you, positively or negatively. Please visit the ‘tell us your views’ tab to take part in the consultation survey.

The following concerns may arise for passengers that need to change bus. This may affect older, younger, and disabled people and passengers with luggage, young children and buggies.

• A longer overall journey time due to the need to change bus
• Concern about the interchange environment (for example, lack of seating and shelter while waiting for the next bus)
• Concern about crowding when joining the bus (for example, less space or less chance of a seat being available)
• Concern at having to change bus at night, in hours of darkness
• Concern journeys would become more expensive if using more than one bus

To help mitigate against these concerns, there are points along the A510 Euston Road ‘corridor’ between Baker Street and Warren Street for bus routes 205 and 27, where interchange could take place at stops with seating, shelter and lighting:

Westbound

• Warren Street station/Tottenham Court Road - Bus stop V
• Great Portland Street station - Bus stop G
• Regent's Park station - Bus stop B
• Harley Street - Bus stop L
• Baker Street station - Bus Stop E

Eastbound

• Old Marylebone Town Hall - Bus stop W
• Baker Street Station - Bus stop D
• Harley Street - Bus stop M
• Regent's Park Station - Bus stop A
• Great Portland Street station/Euston Road - Bus stop H
• Warren Street station - Bus Stop KA

• The proposals are designed to ensure bus services would meet customer demand, and crowding is not expected as a result
• The 30 and 205 bus routes operate in a busy part of London that is well lit and close to housing and businesses. There is also natural surveillance from traffic. This helps create a safer environment for people making late night and early morning journeys
• The ‘Hopper’ bus fare provides the ability to make a second bus journey within 60 minutes of boarding the first, at no additional cost
  
  

Equality Impact Assessment

Our initial Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) identifies in more detail:

• The affects these proposals could have on people
• How we propose to minimise any negative impacts
• After we’ve considered all comments, the EqIA will be reviewed and updated

We use the EqIA to help us decide if, and how, we should proceed with these proposals.

More Information

We have provided more information to help you respond:

Accessible Information

We want to make sure everyone is able to take part in our consultations. To help make it accessible to everyone we have provided:

Tell us your views

You can reply by completing our survey, which should take no more than 10 minutes to complete or if you are short on time, you can submit a quick response.

The closing date for comments is 2 December 2024.

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Questions?

You can use our question tool during the consultation period. We will respond your questions as soon as we can.

Or you can ask your question in person at our drop-in event:

• St. Mary’s Hospital, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Building reception area, 10 S Wharf Road, London W2 1PE, Wednesday 13 November (09:00 - 13:30)

This will give you an opportunity to get further information about the proposals and provide your thoughts and feedback, to allow us to consider your views.

If you are unable to make this date and time and would like to discuss the proposals further with us, please get in touch and we can respond to your queries directly.

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Next steps

These proposals are subject to the outcome of our consultation. Once consultation ends on 2 December 2024, we will spend time considering all the responses we receive and will prepare a consultation report.

The consultation report will help us reach a decision about how bus routes 30 and 205 may change.

The report will be available to everyone that takes part in the consultation and a copy will be published on our website.

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