19 and 38 bus routes restructure
We are proposing to make changes to route 19 which runs between Battersea and Finsbury Park and route 38 which runs between Victoria station and Clapton. We also propose to introduce a new route to be provisionally numbered 10 to run between Mildmay Park and Battersea Bridge.
Please note routes N19 and N38 are not affected by these proposals.
By clicking on each of the buttons below, you can read more about what is proposed and how this may impact you. You can also view maps, ask questions, give feedback, and find out about other ways to get in touch and take part.
You have until Friday 23 January 2026 to give us your feedback.
Proposal
For route 19 we propose to remove the section between Battersea and Hyde Park corner and extend it to serve Victoria station instead, we would also increase the frequency on Sunday early mornings from every 15 minutes to every 12 minutes.
Route 38 currently runs with two separate legs on weekdays in Clapton, so we are proposing to remove the section which currently runs to Clapton bus garage during Monday to Friday daytimes. Instead, we would run the service between Clapton Pond and Holborn. If these proposed changes are taken forward, we would also decrease frequencies on Saturdays from buses every 6 minutes to buses running every 10 minutes and on Sundays, early mornings and evenings from buses running every 7- 8 minutes to buses running every 12 minutes.
We also propose to introduce a new route (provisionally numbered route 10) between Mildmay Park, Dove Road and Battersea Bridge running every 10 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 12 minutes on Sundays and all evenings.
The key changes to note are:
- Run route 19 between Finsbury Park and extend to Victoria via Hyde Park Corner and no longer serve Battersea Bridge
- Run route 38 from Clapton Pond to Holborn, New Oxford Street and no longer serve Victoria
- Withdraw the section of route 38 that runs between between Clapton Garage and Victoria station (currently Monday-Friday only)
- Introduce a new route (provisionally route 10) between Mildmay Park, Dove Road and Battersea Bridge
Please see detailed maps for future proposals below.
Current routeing
Route 19
The route currently runs between Finsbury Park Station and Battersea Bridge every 10 minutes during Monday to Sunday daytimes and all evenings.
Route 38
The route currently runs in two legs. One leg operates on all days and times between Clapton, Kenninghall Road roundabout and Victoria every 10 minutes during Monday to Friday daytimes, every 5 minutes during Saturday shopping hours: every 6 minutes during Sunday shopping hours and every 7 to 8 minutes on all evenings. The second leg also operates every 10 minutes during Monday to Friday daytimes only between Clapton Bus Garage and Victoria, therefore the common section has buses running every 6 minutes.
Please see detailed map for current routes below.
Why?
Why we propose to do this to the 19 and 38
Route 38 runs in two overlapping legs which no longer match the demand patterns due to a significant decrease in demand at Victoria and between Hackney and Essex Road. Route 19 is unreliable, and the busiest section is around Islington Green.
The proposed changes would:
- Improve reliability of routes 19 and 38
- Better match capacity to demand
- Introducing a new route (provisionally route 10) would maintain sufficient capacity between Essex Road and Holborn where demand is highest
- Where there is lower demand across the common section of routeing between Hackney Town and Victoria, we currently have more buses than we need. Therefore, these changes will allow us to make cost savings to ensure TfL can meet its business plan targets
- Shortening route 19 will help with reliability on the route and create new links between Victoria and Upper Street/Highbury
- It would also rationalise and simplify the network
London’s bus network is our most affordable, accessible, and available form of public transport. It offers the main sustainable alternative to cars for those journeys that cannot easily be walked or cycled.
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.
How it impacts you
We have conducted an Equality Impact Assessment on this proposal and it has highlighted the following findings:
Positive impacts
- New links between Battersea/Knightsbridge and Essex Road
- New links between Victoria and Upper Street/Highbury
- Improved reliability on route 19 due to shorter route and less variable traffic conditions
- All routes would run at a high frequency (at least every 12 minutes) during all periods of the day
Negative impacts
- This breaks 356 trips per day (2%) on route 19 between Knightsbridge and the King’s Road and the areas north of Angel. It breaks a total of 1,007 (4%) trips per day on route 38 between Victoria and the areas north of Angel and between Clapton Pond/Dalston and the areas west of Tottenham Court Road
- Buses on the Balls Pond Road will be busier than present as capacity is reduced by around half on route 38 between Clapton garage and Essex Road
- Buses will be busier than present as capacity is reduced by around half on route 38 between Victoria and Holborn
- To access the Middlesex Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital and The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, in the Theobald’s Road area, you can still do so using routes 10, 19 and 38 but for some journeys passengers will need to change bus. Same-stop interchange is available at Angel station at stops X and Y (southbound) and at stops F and G (northbound) where good lighting, real-time information and seating are available
Mitigations
We know that some people would need to change buses to complete some of their journeys should these changes go ahead.
- We have identified interchange points for trips to/from routes 19 and 38 southbound which are at Angel station stops X and Y (southbound) where shelters, good lighting and real time information are provided. There are also identified interchange points for trips to/from routes 19 and 38 northbound at stops F and G at Angel station, where shelters, good lighting and real time information are provided
- 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
More information
We have also provided more information to help you respond and a set of Frequently Asked Questions:
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:
You can translate the information on this page into another language by using the ‘Select language’ button at the bottom of the page
Connecting with London's deaf community on our consultations
To further enhance how we consult with London's deaf community we offer:
- A British Sign Language (BSL) video of our proposals and survey
- A BSL conversation service. This allows the TfL consultation lead to have a two-way BSL translated discussion with a BSL user. To request a BSL conversation please contact us at haveyoursay@tfl.gov.uk and we will be in contact to arrange a convenient time
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.
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The closing date for comments is Friday 23 January 2026.
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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.
You can also contact us by email, via our telephone call back service (020 3054 6037) or in writing (FREEPOST TFL HAVE YOUR SAY).
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Next steps
These proposals are subject to the outcome of our consultation. Once consultation ends on 23 January 2026, 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 whether to proceed with the proposals, amend them or not take them forward.
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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