The Fight to Save Our Buses Continues!


Rt Hon Greg Hands MP for Chelsea and Fulham reporting back


Greg Hands MP with the iconic number 11 bus

March 20, 2023

Dear Resident,

First of all, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to sign my current petition against Mayor Khan’s cuts to our buses in Chelsea and Fulham. At the time of writing this column, the total number of signatures has reached almost 4200!

As you may know, last year Mayor Khan and Transport for London (TfL) revealed shocking proposals to abolish or cut back nearly 80 bus routes across London and they ran a consultation called the Central London Bus Review.

Along with fellow local representatives Tony Devenish AM, Nickie Aiken MP and Felicity Buchan MP, I campaigned to save our local buses and our combined petition reached over 10,000 signatures. Following our strong campaign, on 23 November 2022 Mayor Khan u-turned on hammering London’s buses. He cancelled almost all his proposed cuts and many of our buses were saved.

However, the 11, 211 and N11 bus routes remain under threat. Mayor Khan wants to massively curtail the routes and force people to interchange buses. As I know how important and vital theses buses are for Fulham and Chelsea residents, I immediately launched a new campaign to save the existing 11, 211 and N11 bus routes.

The 11 bus route is as important, as it is iconic. It began as a horse drawn service and has been running for over 100 years, offering a vital route from the constituency into Central London. But now Mayor Khan wants to stop it running to Liverpool Street.

The 211, which is locally known as the ‘Hospital bus’ serves key local services and connects five hospitals: Charing Cross, Chelsea and Westminster, The Royal Marsden, the Royal Brompton and St Thomas’ in central London. Under Mayor Khan’s proposals, people would be forced to interchange between buses to travel this current route which would be impractical for most of its users. The N11 allows our NHS to operate 24 hours a day, enabling shift workers to travel to and from the hospitals. If Mayor Khan and TfL continue with their plans, these much-needed bus routes will cease to exist on their current routes.

I have met TfL, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and the Royal Brompton Hospital as part of my ongoing campaign. However, despite the continued pressure I put on Mayor Khan and TfL, I am disappointed to report that at present Mayor Khan is continuing plans to curtail routes and will even be implementing these changes as early as April or May.

We need to keep the pressure on, so please share my petition and urge all local family, friends, neighbours, and colleagues to sign it: www.greghands.com/campaigns/save-existing-number-11-211-n11-bus-routes Together, let’s show Mayor Khan how important the 11, 211 and N11 buses are to residents and local services.

Thank you again to all those who have already signed my petition.

Kind regards,

Greg Hands

The Rt Hon Greg Hands MP

Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham

You can follow Greg on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for @GregHands

 

P.S. We are almost there. I just need you to help us get some more petition signatures by sharing the link to my petition with friends and neighbours.

 


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