Changes to 100 & 388 bus routes: TfL presses ahead

Last November TfL held a six-week public consultation on plans to extend route 388 south to Elephant & Castle from its current Blackfriars terminus, and at the same time cut back route 100 so that it wouldn't run west of the Museum of London.

Of the 513 public responses, 36 per cent supported or strongly supported the proposed changes, eight per cent neither supported nor opposed them, while 45 per cent opposed or strongly opposed them. One per cent said they were not sure or didn't know and eight per cent didn’t answer.

This week TfL published its consultation report.

TfL said: "After considering all responses, we have concluded that there have not been any issues raised that were not considered in the planning of the proposal.

"We appreciate that some customers do not support these changes, in particular the withdrawal of route 100 between the Museum of London and Elephant & Castle.

"However we need to ensure we balance minimising disruption to customers with the need to operate the bus service in a cost effective way.

"By making these changes we will better align capacity with demand, and reduce resources that can be used elsewhere on the network.

"We therefore plan to proceed with our proposals.

"The service changes will be implemented in April 2017."

The changes mean that Blackfriars Road will be served exclusively by double-decker buses, rather than the current mix of double-deck and single-deck vehicles.

Elephant & Castle will also gain a direct bus link with Hackney and Stratford, although connections to Wapping (including Waitrose at St Katharine Dock) will be lost.