Another key bus route in Greenwich borough is being reduced in frequency as cash-strapped Transport for London makes more cuts to its network.

Route 54, linking Woolwich with Elmers End, will be cut back from six buses an hour to five on weekdays, as part of a new timetable which begins this weekend.

Evening and weekend services will remain the same on the route, which runs through Charlton, Blackheath, Lewisham, Catford and Beckenham.

The timing is awkward for both Greenwich and Lewisham councils, where the Labour Party is forecast to lose seats in the local elections on Thursday.

Cuts to bus services have become an issue in the Greenwich Council elections, with Labour pledging to campaign for better services – even though the network is overseen by Sir Sadiq Khan, the party’s mayor of London.

Both the Greens and the Conservatives have also pledged to lobby for cuts to be reversed.

While TfL has to consult with the public and councils when it alters routes, it does not have to do so when it changes the frequency of buses – so London’s  councils are often the last to know when services are cut back, even though they are trying to persuade their residents to leave their cars at home and use public transport instead.

In March, The Greenwich Wire revealed service reductions on route 286, which links Greenwich, Eltham and Sidcup – and Greenwich Council said its own transport officers were unaware of the service reduction and were struggling to get confirmation. The cuts will take place in July, when the route is converted to double-decker vehicles.

Other routes in Greenwich borough to have suffered frequency cuts include the 386, which runs through the Greenwich and Blackheath low-traffic neighbourhood, as well as the 178, 291 and 486, which serve Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The key 51 route, from Woolwich to Sidcup and Orpington, has also been reduced in frequency. 

The 472 from North Greenwich to Abbey Wood was scrapped altogether and replaced with the limited-stop SL11 in January.

In Lewisham, the 484, which runs through Brockley to Camberwell Green, also now runs less often, to the anger of local Labour MPs.

Route 54 bus
The bus network loses more than £1 billion a year. Image: The Greenwich Wire

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. 

Seven years ago, it was revealed that TfL had amended its route planning guidance so that buses should be 90 per cent full – or standing-room only – at the busiest times. 

The bus network loses £1.2 billion a year, The Londoner reported in February, meaning it is subsided by profits from the Tube network, the Elizabeth Line, and other income such as the congestion charge.

TfL has previously said that it reviews its services based on customer demand.

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