419 extended to Roehampton but 265 extension ended

For those of us living in South West London, the buses are essential for getting around. With a lack of tubes, and the nearest train station up to an hour’s walk away, we are reliant on regular buses for everything from getting the shopping to going to work.

You can often wait ages for a bus to come along only for it to be too full, but changes are being brought in from the end of the month to try and fix that.

419 - From Saturday September 28 the route of the 419 will be extended from Barnes to Roehampton, Bessborough Road, which will restore the direct link between the south end of Hammersmith Bridge and Roehampton Lane. It will also have links to Queen Mary’s Hospital and Roehampton University.

The frequency will also increase, with buses running every 12 minutes on Monday to Saturday and every 20 minutes on Sundays and evenings.

Unfortunately, the new route will no longer serve Church Road in Barnes but Transport for London says that customers travelling between Barnes Pond and the south end of Hammersmith Bridge can continue to use the 209.

265 - The additional buses on the 265 route between Roehampton and Putney Bridge station will no longer run from Saturday September 28. But TfL say the main 265 service between Tolworth and Putney Bridge will continue as normal with buses running up to every 12 minutes, and supplemented by the newly-extended 419 route between Roehampton and Barnes.

170 - The 170 route is expected to run every 7.5 minutes on Monday to Saturday in the daytime from early next year. This is an increase from the current frequency of every eight minutes. It is also expected to increase its Sunday frequency to every 12 minutes, from its current 13. TfL also says an extra bus will be introduced for the morning peak to deal with crowding.

Speaking about the changes Richard Freeston-Clough from London TravelWatch said: “These changes seem like a sensible restructuring of routes, particularly restoring the direct link between the south end of Hammersmith Bridge and Roehampton Lane. Previously people in Roehampton had to go to Putney Bridge to find another bus to get where they wanted to go.”

Sian Bayley - Local Democracy Reporter

September 12, 2019