New Mayor supports better bus service

By Daphne Chamberlain
Brian Coleman, Barnet’s Mayor in waiting, has told East Finchley Bus Watch he will support calls for a better bus service between East and North Finchley. With MP Rudi Vis and the Green Party asking for an additional service, the campaign has across-the-board political backing.
TFL told The Archer last month that the present service is adequate, unless traffic delays cause unreliability and overcrowding. When we reported concerns over the extension of the 263 to Holloway, an area known for traffic delays, they replied that they had increased the peak time quota of buses from 15 to 17.

Contentious
Reminded of their previous statement that they have an obligation to consult stakeholders (MPs, police, local authorities and members of the public) before extending a route, they told us that they were not obliged to consult members of the public unless the change was contentious.
“This is part of a contentious issue,” a Bus Watch member told The Archer. “I’m not against the extension itself. It’s great to travel beyond Archway, but not if the service at our end of the route suffers. They haven’t convinced us that they can’t run the 17 through to North Finchley, as they used to do.”

Hospital route needed
Rudi Vis has also asked TFL for another service between East and North Finchley, with one bus running on to the Royal Free Hospital and possibly beyond to the West End. He is concerned that anyone visiting the Royal Free will now have to negotiate major crossings at Archway to catch the C11.

The Green Party is already campaigning for another bus to run from North Finchley through East Finchley to the RoyalFree.

TFL told The Archer that they were “aware of the long-standing request from borough and passengers to improve services between North and East Finchley”. They said they had recently looked at a number of proposals, but “have not been able to find a scheme that provides increased benefits to passengers, and that provides a worthwhile and efficient use of our resources”. TFL say they welcome comments, complaints or suggestions. They can be contacted on 020 7222 1234.

Back