414 bus cancelled despite opposition from council & residents
TfL will discontinue Route 414 bus in February and replace it with extra buses on Route 14 instead. The two routes, according to TfL both largely use the same roads, going through Fulham and Parsons Green, adding that passengers board either. Route 74, it said, can help with the load.
The decision to scrap the 414 from Saturday 22 February follows a six-week consultation in which 75 per cent of more than 900 responders (mostly from Fulham postcodes) said it would have a negative impact and lead to overcrowding on other buses. Of the 914 consultation responses, 75 percent said it would have a negative impact and that Route 14 would become overcrowded as a result.
Many said that axing the route (which was only launched in November 2002) would impact patients going to the Chelsea & Westminster, Royal Brompton and Royal Marsden hospitals. But TfL analysis shows that use of the 414 bus has halved in six years. TfL says that expanding the frequency of Route 14 will help ease congestion on the roads.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council opposed the change, arguing it would adversely affect vulnerable and Disabled people.
“Route 414 currently operates a similar route to the 14 between central London and Putney Bridge,” TfL spokesman Andrew Hatch said. “To help better match bus capacity with customer needs and to simplify the bus network, Route 414 will no longer operate, and Route 14 will operate more often.”
Route 14, from Putney Heath’s Green Man pub to Russell Square, will now run every eight minutes instead of every 10, and every quarter of an hour through the night. Passengers who used the 414 to get to Marble Arch must now change at Hyde Park Corner and take a 74 or 137 for the final leg, with the £1.75 ‘Hopper’ fare covering the switch, provided they have boarded in the previous hour.
“Operating a more efficient bus service helps us make financial savings that can be reinvested in other parts of the bus network,” added Mr Hatch.
For more updates on Hammersmith & Fulham, visit EyeOnLondon Hammersmith & Fulham.
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