19 and 38 bus routes restructure

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.

(Click on map for a larger version)

(Click on map for a larger version)

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.

(Click on map for a larger version)

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:

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 Friday 23 January 2026.

Questions?

You can use our question tool during the consultation period. We will respond to 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).

Latest news

Update 26 June 2026

We would like to thank you for taking part on the consultation on proposals for changes to routes 19, 38 and 10.

Having analysed your responses, we have decided to go ahead with some of the changes we proposed, but with some changes to help respond to the concerns that have been raised.

In summary, the key adjustments and mitigations we are making to the original proposals are:

• Night Bus route N38 will operate about an hour earlier in the evening and later in the morning all week
  
  
• New route 10 will extend to Newington Green (south side) instead of terminating at Mildmay Park, as had been proposed
  
  
• All the service changes will be kept under review, with particular focus on ensuring that sufficient capacity continues to be provided on the Essex Road to Holborn corridor

We are going ahead with curtailing route 38 so that it runs between Clapton Pond and Holborn, New Oxford Street instead of Victoria. We will also go ahead with withdrawing the short leg on route 38 to Clapton Garage. To better match demand, services will now run every 10 minutes instead of every 5 minutes on Saturdays and every 10 minutes instead of every 7-8 minutes on Sundays, early mornings and evenings, as set out in our original proposal.

Map showing the new network

To respond to the concerns about losing early morning and late evening through services to Victoria from Hackney, and to preserve affordable late night and early morning access to and from the West End, Night Bus route N38 will operate about an hour earlier in the evening and later in the morning all week.

We are going ahead with rerouting route 19 after Hyde Park to serve Victoria station instead of Battersea Bridge. We will also go ahead with increasing early morning Sunday frequencies on route 19 from every 15 minutes to a service running every 12 minutes.

We will go ahead with introducing new route 10 – but will extend it to Newington Green (south side) instead of terminating at Mildmay Park, as had been proposed. This change will help respond to concerns raised in consultation and provides a new service to residents of Newington Green. This means the new route will now run between Newington Green and Battersea Bridge, with services running every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 12 minutes on Sundays and all evenings.

We know this outcome might not be what everyone wanted to see, but the changes will improve reliability on routes 19 and 38, which are both currently not meeting their reliability targets, and will better match service levels to demand. The changes will reduce duplication and over-provision in areas where we are running more buses than are needed, which will help us create a more financially sustainable network. We are also providing new journey opportunities with the introduction of route 10 at Newington Green.

We recognise that these changes will mean that some customers will need to change buses to complete their journeys. Same-stop interchange is available between routes 10, 19 and 38 at Angel station, where shelters, good lighting and real time information are available. The Mayor’s Hopper Fare allows customers to change buses for no extra charge within an hour of first touching in.

We will keep all the service changes under review, with particular focus on ensuring that sufficient capacity continues to be provided on the Essex Road to Holborn corridor. Passenger loading surveys will be undertaken following implementation.

Our ambition is for London’s bus network to be the best of any city in the world. That’s why we are reshaping the network to ensure it can continue to deliver for the changing needs of Londoners now and into the future. This means providing an attractive, reliable, green bus service which reflects how Londoners travel today, offers better customer experience, and is financially sustainable. London is constantly changing and, as our most flexible form of public transport, our bus network must change too.

Update 26 January 2026

This consultation has now closed. Thank you to everyone who responded. We are analysing your feedback and will report back shortly.

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