Locals say schoolchildren and the elderly have been affected by the loss

A petition has been set up calling on Transport for London (TfL) to re-instate the 27 bus route.

The transport company truncated the route earlier this year at Hammersmith. It formerly served Chiswick High Road terminating in the Chiswick Business Park.

This was despite 72% of the 604 public responses to the proposal opposing the plan and only 9% supporting it.

The bus now terminates at Glenthorne Road, which is close to Hammersmith & City Line tube station.

The founder of the petition Gillian Harrison says "So many people rely on that additional part of the route - especially school-children and the elderly."

200 people have signed in the last two days, but they are hoping to reach 500 signatories.

Some of the comments include: "Removing the 27 bus has made other buses too crowded", and " it is really difficult for the elderly and infirm to change buses in a busy bus station. "

Route 27 ran 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.

TfL said during the consultation that they believed a maximum number of 16 buses per hour were needed on Chiswick High Road by Turnham Green and the removal of the 27 would take the number of buses per hour down from 22 which they describe as ‘more than enough to serve the demand along this corridor.

The extension of the route to the Chiswick Business Park office development was only introduced four years ago after a lengthy campaign including a sum of over £537,000 to London United to pay for an extra vehicle for the route.

The idea was to serve the thousands of workers who commute to the Park and relieve pressure on the tube station at Gunnersbury. Hounslow Council, which part funded the extension opposed TfL’s plan as did the CEO of Chiswick Park.

TfL’s response to issues raised at the time have been published online.

September 13, 2019