Member of Parliament for Chelsea & Fulham, Greg Hands, has welcomed Transport for London’s (TfL) announcement of its decision not to curtail the 424 bus route. TfL’s proposals would have meant that the 424 bus would no longer have gone through the heart of Fulham – where it provides a vital service to many local residents, especially the elderly and those in sheltered housing, being the only direct bus service in Sands End. Instead, the route would have gone just over Wandsworth Bridge rather than to Putney High Street.
During TfL’s consultation between 27 November 2015 and 31 January 2016, the three Conservative Hammersmith & Fulham councillors for Sands End – Robert Largan, Jane Law, and Steve Hamilton –campaigned hard to save the 424 bus route. The councillors’ petition received more than a thousand signatures from concerned local residents, and was delivered to the then Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, by Greg Hands MP last year.
However, in light of the 297 responses to the consultation (52 per cent) which were not in favour of TfL’s proposals – and, no doubt, as a result of the impact of the Conservative councillors’ petition – TfL has decided not to proceed with the proposals.
Commenting on the news, Member of Parliament for Chelsea & Fulham, Greg Hands, said: “It’s great news that TfL has announced its decision not to curtail the 424 bus route. This is clearly a direct result of the hard work carried out by the three Conservative Sands End ward councillors who fought to save the 424 route for local residents.
“Once again, I’d like to join the Sands End councillors in thanking the several thousand local residents who supported their campaign, and in particular the group who presented their petition to me at my constituency surgery last year."
Transport for London’s Consultation Report, including details on Greg Hands’s response to the consultation, can be found here.