Category Archives: Transport

Bakerloo extension map

You may have seen reports on TV news and BBC’s Sunday Politics, and in the Evening Standard for proposals to extend the Bakerloo Line to Hayes and Beckenham Junction. You can see the proposals and comment at

https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/tube/bakerloo-extension

The closing date is 7 DECEMBER 2014. We will also be discussing this at the Residents’ Forum at Beckenham Public Halls, 8pm 15 October.

In summary the main points seem to be

•  An extension of the Bakerloo line from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham, with two options for routes – going either through the Old Kent Road or Camberwell and Peckham – this would be new construction.
• Then potential extensions from Lewisham to Hayes and Beckenham Junction, possibly through to Bromley. Another option is for the extension to end at Lewisham, leaving the existing Southeastern rail line unchanged.
• The Hayes extension would be made by replacing the existing national rail line with an “underground” line (but above ground, obviously). The route from Hayes into central London would be Hayes to Lewisham then round Elephant and Castle to Waterloo and Charing Cross and onwards to central London and Paddington. To get to London Bridge, you would have to change to the railway at Lewisham.
• On the Hayes line, there would be 15 trains an hour, compared with 4 at present. That’s one every 4 mins. On the Beckenham Junction line, there would be 6 tube trains an hour in addition to the current 6 rail trains.
• TfL claim that journey times to Charing Cross and Cannon Street would be cut by about 10 minutes.
• The Beckenham Junction extension would not affect the lines into Victoria, but the line between New Beckenham and Beckenham Junction would be replaced by the Bakerloo line. If it was extended to Bromley, this part of the route would include a tunnel.
• The line would be funded in part by contributions from developers along the line – this is clearly part of the Mayor’s development strategy for our area. So the additional trains would cater for an expected much larger local population.
• Timescale – starting sometime 2020-2025, finished sometime 2030-2035.

The Transport Committee of the Greater London Assembly has published a report “Bus Services in London” on the challenge of rising demand for bus travel in London.

It held a seminar on 19 February which our Chair, Marie Pender, attended. She had challenged our GLA member, James Cleverly, at the joint Forum with CCARA in November, about the fact that half of the ten most crowded bus services in London are in his Bromley and Bexley constituency, and three of these are in Beckenham and Penge – the 176 Penge to Tottenham Court Road, the 162, Eltham to Beckenham Junction and the 358 Orpington to Crystal Palace.

Demand for bus travel in London grew between 2000 and 2012 by 64%. There are reported increases in waiting times for buses or not being able to find a seat. London’s population is forecast to grow by 1.2m by 2022, the equivalent of almost four double-decker buses a day. GLA Transport Committee’s report wants better bus service planning and a commitment to maintenance of an effective bus network.

Transport for London’s Managing Director of Surface Transport, Leon Daniels, gave many assurances about planning for London’s buses, particularly that contrary to popular belief the services were planned on an area basis rather than route by route. The Transport Committee wants TfL to make it rationale for any changes clearer. It also wants the Mayor and TfL to work more closely with NHS providers to plan better service for hospitals.

There are plans for different ticketing systems to help spread the load and make bus travel cheaper for lower income groups, such as an ability to change buses without having to pay an additional fare, and Oyster cards that allow part time workers to benefit.

There was much heated debate from disabled people attending the seminar about how many bus drivers do not follow their instructions on helping disabled people. WBRA Chair has also had discussions with TfL about buses stopping too far away from the kerb to allow the frail elderly to get off easily. Both at the seminar and in a previous response to the chair, TfL’s response has been complacent. The answer has been that divers are instructed on how to behave and therefore they must follow these instructions!

WBRA Chair wrote to Val Shawcross and Richard Tracey (Chair and member of TfL’s transport committee respectively) following the seminar.  In a very full and helpful letter, the Director of Buses responded that bus services are monitored extensively by covert assessors (secret shoppers to you and me). He says that they report regularly that in 9 out of 10 cases bus drivers position the bus correctly in line with kerb. This does not match my personal experience and I replied to him that in my daily use of bus services the opposite is true – 9 out of 10 “alignments” are too far away or at an awkward angle.

The Chair also asked GLA to champion the Countdown displays at bus stops, because there were rumours that they are under threat and that TfL wants us all to get the information via mobile phones instead. I am pleased to say that the Director said that they are not removing existing countdown signs at bus stops, but they do not propose to install any more. Instead they are relying on use of mobile phones. This service is not cheap – one text for a specific bus stop will cost 20p -25p, which is a lot of money for say someone relying on the state pension. The response was that nearly all mobile handsets include a mobile web facility with the costs bundled into the monthly charge and smartphone apps are usually free.  Of course those over on state pension who have such facilities are the ones least likely to rely on buses.

On the over crowded buses in Beckenham, James Cleverly has said he will take these issues up when the route franchises come up for renewal.

WBRA has succeeded, with the help of GLA member James Cleverly, in increasing parking at Elmers End Green after persuading Transport for London that two of the old bus stands were not necessary, and the London Borough of Bromley to put in four additional parking spaces where they once stood. This should help customers of the local shops and in particular patients at the St James doctors practice opposite.

After the bus transport interchange was opened at Elmers End station, WBRA asked TfL to remove the stands on the Green where the 54 and 289 buses used to stop between journeys. There was room for four buses at the two stands on the Green. At first, TfL was adamant that they still required all four stands in case of “emergencies” on routes other than the 54 and 289. It appears that an “emergency” would be when traffic build up had caused a bus to be so late running that it needed to curtail its route and start again from an intermediate point. So, for example, the 358 bus might be late running from Bromley, curtail its run to Crystal Palace and start again from Elmers End Green, but needing to wait a few minutes at the Green before starting up again.

While WBRA accepted a need for such a facility, we queried whether it was necessary to retain permanently all four stands for such an “emergency” – could four buses all require to stand at the same time? James Cleverly, our GLA member, helped by arranging a meeting at the Green with a TfL official, who agreed it would not be necessary to retain all four stands. Eventually, TfL agreed that two could be removed, and James then approached LB Bromley on our behalf to have the additional parking spaces installed. This was achieved in November, just about a year after we initially raised the issue – which, believe it or not, is quite fast for this type of thing! We hope the new parking will take pressure off surrounding residential roads. Our thanks to James for his help.