TfL Plans To Terminate 27 Bus Route To Chiswick

Proposal would reduce number of buses serving the High Road by over 25%

Transport for London (TfL) has started a public consultation on proposals on changes to local bus routes which include ending the number 27's service to the area. This will mean a reduction in the number of buses serving Chiswick High Road of over 25%

Bus route 27 bus currently terminates at the Chiswick Business Park. The extension of the route to the office development was only introduced four years ago after a lengthy campaign.

A sum of over £537,000 was paid to London Buses over three years to seed the improvement to the service, which required an additional bus added to the London United fleet. The money was paid by the Hounslow Council through section 106 funds (developer contributions) from Chiswick Business Park. The idea was to serve the thousands of workers who commute to the Park and relieve pressure on the tube station at Gunnersbury.

The consultation, which runs from now until August, will propose stopping the service at Hammersmith. TfL says its data shows that portion of the 27 route, between Hammersmith and Chiswick, is the least used part of the route, particularly between Turnham Green and the Business Park.

Route 27 runs between Chiswick Business Park and Chalk Farm, every 7 to 8 minutes Monday to Saturday daily and every 12 minutes during Sundays shopping hours and late evenings.

A TfL spokesman said that the 27 provided eight buses per hour on the route, and if it was removed there would still be over 22 buses per hour on the route from Hammersmith to Chiswick High Road. The Business Park is also served by routes 237, 267 and H91 at Gunnersbury Station.

"Our review of bus services serving inner west London also revealed a number of routes that were running with a lot of spare capacity (buses that are not full). We are therefore proposing the following changes to route 27:

"-make route 27 more reliable by terminating it at Hammersmith Grove, which will remove the least-used section of the route (between Hammersmith and Chiswick Business Park)

"-create a short new local link from King Street to Glenthorne Road and Hammersmith Grove
turn buses around at Hammersmith Bus Station at night, removing an under-used section of the route between the bus station and Hammersmith Grove (this truncated route would operate as the ‘N27’)."

Critics of the plan are claiming that the early termination of the route being proposed is due to TfL's desire to save money. A Low Emission Bus Zone is due to be implemented on Chiswick High Road in 2020 which would mean that only the latest generation of less-polluting buses would be allowed to serve the area. It is being alleged that the change would mean that TfL would not need to upgrade the buses on route 27 if they were not serving the clean air zone.

When we asked TfL about this their spokesman said this was not the reason behind the proposed changes. He said any buses on any changed route would meet the new criteria set down for low emissions.

TfL says, "Our analysis of the demand for bus services at Turnham Green (on Chiswick High Road) shows that a maximum of around 16 buses per hour are required. We currently provide 30 buses per hour. Removing route 27 (which accounts for eight buses per hour) would take the total number of buses provided per hour down to 22, more than enough to serve the demand along this corridor

"Similarly, between Hammersmith and Turnham Green 10 buses per hour are required to serve existing demand at most. We currently provide 22 buses per hour. Removing route 27’s eight buses per hour from this total would take the total number of buses provided per hour down to 14, more than enough to serve the demand along this corridor. It is also very lightly used between Turnham Green Church and Chiswick Business Park.

"People who currently use route 27 to travel between Hammersmith and Chiswick Business Park would still be able to make that journey on one of the following routes: 237, 267, 391, H91."

Although route 237 serves the Hammersmith area it does not follow the same route between Hammersmith and Chiswick as the 27 does.

Matt Coulson, CEO Chiswick Park Enjoy-Work said, ‘Easy access to the park by public transport is vital. The latest proposal from TfL to remove the section of the bus 27 route between Hammersmith and our business park will affect some of our guests. This is not a decision we support, however, we understand that it is not sustainable for a London bus line to be run at low capacity.

"With the delivery of the new footbridge due to open in December this year, we will provide a direct access to Chiswick Park tube station and we are hoping that this will provide an alternative to the bus 27 commuters.’

The second part of the consultation deals with changes to the 440 route. TfL are proposing to run route 440 through Chiswick Business Park and continue along Oxford Road North / Wellesley Road / Heathfield Terrace before terminating at Turnham Green Church on Town Hall Avenue.

Travelling southbound the bus would run – as it does now – along Bollo Lane. Under the proposals, instead of continuing past Weston Road towards Chiswick Park station, it would turn right into Chiswick Business Park. It would then run through the business park – following the same alignment as route 27 – but instead turn right onto Chiswick High Road to serve the stops outside of Gunnersbury station before turning left onto Oxford Road North. It would then run along Wellesley Road / Heathfield Terrace and around Turnham Green. It would then turn left back on to Chiswick High Road and left again onto Town Hall Avenue to start its northbound journey through the business park.

The proposals for route 440 would provide a new direct bus link between Gunnersbury, Acton and the planned Elizabeth line station at Acton Main Line. TfL say it would also improve bus links into Chiswick Business Park from South Acton Estate and provide a direct link between stops at the northern end of Chiswick Business Park and Gunnersbury station.

Route 440 currently runs between Stonebridge Park station and Gunnersbury, Power Road serving Chiswick High Road, Acton Green, South Acton, Acton High Street, West Acton, North Acton, Park Royal and Stonebridge Park station. It also serves Park Royal, South Acton and Chiswick that currently have no direct connection in both directions to any rail station planned to be served by the Elizabeth line.

July 3, 2018