Two London bus routes to change under TfL plans

Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed changes to the number 19 and 38 bus routes that operate to and from central London and said it will introduce a new service.

Provisionally numbered 10, the new route is planned to "maintain essential capacity" between Essex Road and Holborn, and to keep direct links between Battersea Bridge and central London, the transport body said.

TfL said route 19, which currently runs between Finsbury Park and Battersea Bridge, was currently "unreliable" and will now divert at Hyde Park Corner and terminate at Victoria.

More than 1,600 people responded to a consultation about the routes, with a majority opposing the changes.

A majority of route 19 users (64%) and route 38 users (72%) said the changes would make their trips less convenient.

In other changes announced by TfL, route 38, which currently runs between Clapton and Victoria, will terminate at New Oxford Street in Holborn.

The new arrangements are due to come into effect in November, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Dame Meg Hillier, Labour MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, opposed the changes on the grounds that buses were a "de facto tube network" for Hackney residents, who she said did not share the same access to London Underground network as other boroughs.

The plans also sparked opposition from Islington Council and Westminster City Council, who both warned their residents would lose out on critical bus services, adding it would disproportionately hit elderly, vulnerable and low-income residents.

TfL said it would keep all changes under review, and would carry out passenger loading surveys after the changes come into effect.

The transport body manages a bus fleet of around 9,000 vehicles operating across 675 routes in the capital, with 50 bus stations and more than 19,000 bus stops.

In its response to the consultation, London Travel Watch, the statutory transport watchdog for London, said it did not support the changes.

It noted that route 19 is currently one of London's slowest buses, with an average speed so far in 2025/26 of 6.5 miles per hour.

It said the proposed new length of route 19 will still be "considerable and therefore presumably remain prone to delays".

The group added: "Looking at the current timetables, we estimate that even during the off-peak, the end-to-end journey time for route 10 will be up to around 70 minutes, a significant time."

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