Another key bus service serving Greenwich is set to be reduced in frequency later this year – despite councillors’ efforts to persuade residents to switch away from driving.
Route 286, which runs from Greenwich town centre to Queen Mary Hospital in Sidcup via Eltham, will be converted to double-decker buses when a new contract with Go-Ahead London begins on July 11.
But fewer buses will be required – 11 at peak times rather than 14 now – so the route is due to be reduced in frequency from every 12 minutes to every 15 minutes.
However, The Greenwich Wire has established that council transport officers were not told about the cut to services, despite it running through a controversial low-traffic neighbourhood where officials want people to use their cars less.
The bus runs via Westcombe Hill, making it the second service through Greenwich’s low-traffic neighbourhood to be reduced in frequency since the scheme began in November 2024. The 386, which runs via Vanburgh Hill, was reduced to every 20 minutes at the end of November.
The 286 is one of just three north-south services in the borough, and is a busy school route as well as a key link between Greenwich, Eltham and Sidcup town centres. As well as Queen Mary’s, the 286 also serves Eltham Community Hospital, where many outpatients are sent for tests. Passengers also have to contend with traffic delays in Greenwich and Sidcup.
Each London bus route is put out to tender by Transport for London, with bidders setting out how much money they would run the route for. Running fewer buses with fewer drivers means TfL saves money.
The results of each round of tenders are announced within the industry, including at bus garages where the results may determine the future of the staff, with drivers sometimes switching companies when routes change hands.
But while those in the industry know – and are able to work out the implications of each change – the councils concerned, who have to manage traffic in their boroughs, are not told until much later.
Greenwich Council said its own transport officers were unaware of the cut and were struggling to get confirmation of what is planned. Typically TfL, which is chaired by the Labour mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, does not make a public announcement of cuts to buses until two or three weeks in advance.
Other services in the borough have been cut recently: the 486 from North Greenwich to Bexleyheath was cut to every 15 minutes last month, the 472 from North Greenwich to Abbey Wood was scrapped altogether and replaced with the limited-stop SL11 in January, while three services in Woolwich – the 51, 178 and 291 – have also had their frequencies reduced.
James Gadsby Peet, of the East Greenwich Residents’ Association, compared the cuts to local services to the introduction of new buses through the Silvertown Tunnel. “It seems as though our SE London bus services are being sacrificed in order to pay for new cross-river services which appear to have limited uptake.
“EGRA is concerned that crucial public transport links from Greenwich to other parts of the borough are being systematically cut. Getting around the borough is increasingly difficult without the use of a car, and that’s not good for anyone.”
Charlie Davis, a Conservative councillor for Eltham Town and Avery Hill, said: “We constantly hear from Labour about the need to improve north south transport links and their goal of reducing car use, and then they bring forward proposals such as this which have the opposite impact.
“But this is typical of Labour’s approach to Eltham. We will be campaigning against these cuts and demanding that TfL keeps the existing service level. We need more frequent, reliable services, not cuts.”
Across London, bus user numbers have fallen by 23 per cent from their all-time peak in 2014, while TfL lost its day-to-day central government funding under a deal struck by Boris Johnson, the mayor at the time, and the Conservative government the following year.
This leaves the bus network reliant on profits from the Tube, which has fewer passengers since the pandemic, the Elizabeth Line and other income such as the congestion charge. The bus network loses £1.2 billion a year, The Londoner reported last month.
“We would have serious concerns if the capacity and frequency of the 286 were to be reduced,” Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, Greenwich’s cabinet member for climate change, sustainability and transport, said. This is a vital north–south connection within the borough, directly linking Greenwich and Eltham, as well as serving key destinations including the University of Greenwich campuses.
“TfL hasn’t approached us about any change in service, but we hope reports are incorrect and have made our position clear to TfL about the importance of strong north-south links.
“We want to make it cleaner, greener, easier and more affordable to travel around our borough and public transport is a key part of that. Regular and reliable services are essential to give residents the chance to reduce reliance on private vehicles.”
A TfL spokesperson said: “We are committed to providing the best bus network possible for Londoners and regularly review our services according to customer demand. Feedback is important to us and will enable us to create bus services which benefit everyone using the services in the local area.”
Meanwhile, a Labour party campaign on Facebook is inviting passengers to join a campaign to reverse the cut in frequency to the 386 – but is also calling for it to be operated by double-decker buses, even though much of the route runs down narrow side roads.
Potential voters are asked to sign up and urge TfL to “restore the frequency to 5 buses per hour and to introduce larger, more modern buses (like they have on the 129)”. The 129 was converted to double-deck vehicles more than a decade ago and serves main roads in Greenwich, while the 386 detours along side roads in Kidbrooke on its trip from Woolwich to Blackheath Village. These campaigns are typically used by political parties to gather voters’ contact details.
Neither London Labour nor Greenwich Labour responded to a request for comment on the campaign.
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