N118/114 - Proposal for new night bus service route N118 and cease weekend night bus service route 114

Proposals

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You can also view detailed maps showing the full routes, eastern and western sections of the proposals in the ‘More information’ section.

Create a new night bus route N118

• Introduce new night bus route N118 to operate between Trafalgar Square and Ruislip station (via Wembley, Sudbury Hill and South Ruislip), with a bus every 30 minutes on weeknights and a bus every 15 minutes on weekend nights (see maps for details)
  
  
• Restructure existing night bus route N18. At present, route N18 operates as two separate ‘legs’. One leg goes from Trafalgar Square to Harrow Weald and the other leg goes from Trafalgar Square to Sudbury & Harrow Road Station. We propose to remove the Trafalgar Square to Sudbury & Harrow Road Station leg on all nights of the week. This would leave route N18 with a bus running every 30 minutes between Trafalgar Square to Harrow Weald on weeknights and a bus running every 15 minutes on weekend nights
  
  
• The proposed N118 night bus route is proposed to run on the same roads as route N18 between Trafalgar Square and Sudbury & Harrow Road Station. This means there will be a bus every 7-8 mins on this section

Stop running the weekend only night bus service on route 114

• Permanently withdraw the currently suspended weekend-only route night service on bus route 114. It ran between Ruislip and Mill Hill Broadway via South Ruislip (see maps for details)
  
  
• We are proposing the withdrawal because the service had low numbers of passengers using it prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This proposal would help ensure that resources are available in areas where they are needed more
  
  
• The service was suspended in March 2020 when Night Tube services ceased at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The route has remained suspended and as such its permanent withdrawal would not impact any existing passengers

Background

In early 2024 we consulted on the proposed introduction of new night bus route N518. This proposal was for a new night bus route to run between Trafalgar Square and Ruislip.

In July 2024, we published the consultation report for this consultation on new night bus route N518.

In the report, we stated that we had decided not to proceed with our original proposals based on the feedback received and we committed to reviewing our options for that reason.

We also committed to consulting once a new set of proposals had been developed and this proposal and consultation is the outcome of that development.

The differences between the two proposals are that:

• In this proposal, the proposed new night route would serve Harrow Road and Greenford Road instead of Bridgewater Road and Whitton Avenue East in the previous proposal
  
  
• In this proposal, the proposed new night route would serve Eastcote Lane and Victoria Road instead of Rayners Lane, Eastern Avenue and Elm Avenue in the previous proposal
  
  
• In this proposal, the route number is now N118 rather than N518
  
  

Why?

Why we want to introduce N118 night bus

• There is increased demand for bus services along existing route N18 between Trafalgar Square and Sudbury & Harrow Road Station at weekends
  
  
• To offer new journey opportunities from/ to Sudbury Hill/Northolt Park/South Ruislip/Ruislip
  
  
• Since the suspension of the weekend-only night bus route 114, there are no night bus routes in the Ruislip area and as such, there is a need for a service to serve this part of London at night
  
  
• To develop new and improved connections and offer direct journeys to places that people want to go to and return from. It will provide links between Ruislip and other locations on the proposed route such as Sudbury Hill and Wembley and to the night-time leisure and employment opportunities of central London
  
  
• New direct links would be created at night between Ruislip and locations such as South Ruislip, Northolt Park, Sudbury Hill, Wembley, Harrow Road, Kensal Green, Harlesden, Maida Hill, Paddington and central London
  
  
• The route will provide interchange opportunities with other night routes including routes N3, N9, N15, N18, N22, N27, N83, N136, N113, N140, N205, N266, 8, 12, 36, 88, 94, 139, 159, 297, 220 and 453
  
  
• To improve accessibility by offering greater journey options to Londoners who do not have access to night buses at the moment

Why we propose to withdraw the weekend only night bus service part of route 114

• Transport for London (TfL) withdrew the weekend night service on route 114 in March 2020 in response to the temporary withdrawal of Night Tube services, the fall in demand because of the pandemic, and subsequent lockdown restrictions. Prior to the pandemic, usage on this night service was low and had been declining
  
  
• We are proposing to permanently withdraw the weekend-only night bus route because there was limited usage on the route before the pandemic and this number of passengers would not justify its reintroduction; withdrawing the route will help ensure that resources are available in areas where they are needed more
  
  
• The weekend night bus service on route 114 has remained suspended since March 2020 and as such its permanent withdrawal would not impact any existing passengers
  
  
• The proposed N118 would directly serve some of the places served by the 114 weekend only night bus

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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.

How it impacts you

Proposed new N118 night bus

• On the common section shared by the N18 and N118 between Trafalgar Square and Sudbury & Harrow Road Station, a bus would operate every 7-8 minutes at weekends
  
  
• The proposed N118 will provide links between Ruislip Station and the junction between Eastcote Lane and Alexandra Avenue that were previously served on weekend nights by route 114
  
  
• Same stop interchange could take place with route N140 at Petts Hill near Northolt Park and with route N18 at any bus stop between Trafalgar Square and Sudbury & Harrow Road Station
  
  
• The route will provide interchange opportunities with other night routes including routes N3, N9, N15, N18, N22, N27, N83, N136, N113, N140, N205, N266, 8, 12, 36, 88, 94, 139, 159, 297, 220 and 453

Proposed withdrawal of weekend only night bus 114

• We have conducted an Equality Impact Assessment on this proposal and it has highlighted that no passengers would be negatively impacted by this proposal, as the weekend-only night bus service on route 114 has not operated since March 2020 and as such has no existing passengers
  
  
• Route N140 runs on the same roads as route 114 between South Harrow and Station Road in Harrow
  
  
• Routes N5, N18, N32 and N98 currently serve areas at night that were served by route 114 at night
  
  
• Night Tube serves Queensbury Station on the Jubilee Line and Burnt Oak Station on the Northern Line which provide connections to central London
  
  
• 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
  
  
• Given it has been nearly 5 years since the weekend-only night service on route 114 has operated, the impacts of permanently withdrawing this service have mostly dissipated and passengers have been using other transport modes to make their journeys during weekend nights since the suspension started nearly 5 years ago

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 29 June 2025.

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)

Next steps

These proposals are subject to the outcome of our consultation. Once consultation ends on Sunday 29 June 2025, 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 what may happen to bus routes N118 and 114.

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